2 insurance plans with premiums close to $10k/year – need advice choosing

We are in NY. We were covered under my husband's plan until he was laid off. I then signed up for my previous employer's plan and switched jobs less than 2 months later. Things are starting to get tough financially and these high medical premiums are not helping…

The 2 options we are seeing are:

COBRA for $655/mo medical plus $78/mo for dental. Paid using post-tax dollars (unlikely to meet the 7.5% for deduction). Insurance is UHC, which we've had a good experience. We are considering this bc if my husband finds a new job, I am almost certain his plan would be cheaper and this would allow us to switch. Job market is bleak so far though. My new employer's plan is $739/mo plus $90/mo for dental. Paid using pre-tax dollars. Insurance is Aetna.
The only reason we'd move over is to have everything with the new employer, and they offer slight "discounts" like matching up to $500 in HSA contributions.

Has anyone opted for COBRA over their new employer plan before?

Any good/bad experiences to share with Aetna?

Are there other options we didn't think of?

Appreciate any guidance with all this. Thank you in advance!

submitted by /u/TravelingABC
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