Health Insurance advice for upcoming medical procedure

Hello Reddit Community,

Reaching out to see if anyone has been through a similar situation and/or is able to help (thank you in advance)!

I work in Tech and back in June I was unfortunately laid off from my job as many others have been in the industry. My employer offered me an additional month of coverage (expiring end of July) as part of my severance. I have been in great health, however, as luck may have it I ended up getting a hernia and I believe that I will need surgery. I met with a primary care doctor and was hoping to move forward quickly so that I would still be in coverage but it is looking like the earliest appointment for consult with the recommended surgeon will not be until the first week of August. Since I am still unemployed, the doctor had mentioned that I should get on COBRA v. another plan such as Covered California or their may be a risk of further delays (eg – starting the approvals over again/needing to meet with a different Primary Care and getting another referral). I live in California if that detail helps.

My current policy is with UnitedHealthcare (Choice Plus Network) / PPO. I am a bit overwhelmed and was hoping to see if anyone has been through something similar or has any advice on what I should do? Should I sign up for COBRA over covered California or vise versa or non of the above/something else?

Thank you all again!

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