COBRA Alternatives in Michigan (2026)

Your options after leaving a job in Michigan

If you leave a job at a company with 20 or more employees, federal COBRA lets you keep your current group plan for a limited time. The catch is cost: you pay the whole premium, including the share your employer used to cover.

Michigan has no state continuation law for smaller employers. If your company had fewer than 20 workers, you may have no right to stay on the plan, though some group coverage offers a conversion to an individual policy with different benefits and prices.

Losing job-based coverage gives you a special enrollment period to buy Marketplace plans outside open enrollment. Compare the Marketplace price, after any tax credit you qualify for, against your COBRA bill before you decide. A licensed agent can run both numbers with you.

If your income has dropped sharply, check the Healthy Michigan Plan. Adults 19 to 64 earning up to 138% of the poverty level can qualify, and you can apply at any time of year.

How federal COBRA works

Federal COBRA lets you keep your former employer’s group plan if the employer had 20 or more employees. Coverage usually lasts up to 18 months, and you can be charged the full premium plus a 2% administrative fee, because your employer stops paying its share.

You generally have 60 days from your election notice to choose COBRA. Coverage is retroactive, so some people wait and only elect it if they need care during that window. Talk to an agent before relying on that, because missing the deadline ends the option.

Michigan state continuation

If you work for a larger employer, federal COBRA lets you keep the same group plan for a limited time, but you pay the full premium. If your employer is small, Michigan law does not give you a continuation right, though some group coverage may offer a conversion option to an individual policy with different costs and benefits. In either case, losing job-based coverage opens a special enrollment period for Marketplace plans.

Marketplace plans and your special enrollment period

Losing job-based coverage opens a 60-day special enrollment period, so you don’t have to wait for open enrollment. In Michigan, HealthCare.gov is the federal government’s official marketplace for Michigan. We’re an independent, licensed insurance agency, not part of HealthCare.gov or any government agency, and we can help you compare Marketplace plans and enroll. Michigan uses the federal Marketplace, so you must pick a plan by December 15 for coverage that starts January 1; signing up December 16 to January 15 starts coverage February 1. A federal rule that would have ended open enrollment by December 31 was struck down by a court in June 2026, so the January 15 deadline still applies for 2027 coverage.

Marketplace premiums are based on your expected income for the year, not last year’s. If you’re between jobs, a lower income estimate can mean a much larger premium tax credit. The extra federal premium tax credits that started in 2021 expired at the end of 2025 and Congress has not renewed them. For 2026 coverage in Michigan, households earning above 400% of the federal poverty level no longer get any premium tax credit, and people below that line generally get less help than before.

If your income dropped

Adults ages 19 to 64 with income up to 138% of the federal poverty level can qualify for the Healthy Michigan Plan, even without children or a disability. Starting January 1, 2027, many enrollees ages 19 to 64 will need to show 80 hours a month of work, school, volunteering or job training (or at least $580 in monthly earnings) unless they qualify for an exemption, and most will renew every six months instead of once a year.

What coverage costs