You have to be careful with Obamacare. I was laid off from a job in October 2017. Looking at Obamacare, my premium would be based on what I had already earned so far that year. A family plan was nearly the cost of COBRA, even though I wasn’t making anything then except what I got for unemployment benefits. I did take Obamacare because it was almost $200 per month less. Same insurance co., doctors, etc.
Turned out that it really wasn’t the same plan. While all my deductibles were met by the older plan, I had to start with a new deductible and it was $14,000, $11,000 more than my older plan. Saving that $150-$200 dollars per month cost me plenty. Still kicking myself to this day. Fortunately I only needed it for two months.
I heard that Obama are comes in three levels: gold, silver, silver, and bronze. The advice was to take the silver level, which was a few dollars more but had much better returns.
Mike,
It is rough to be laid off like that. Best of luck to you. Some areas are worse than others in terms of getting hired when older, hope you are in an easy area!