Is a "lapse in coverage longer than X days" a big deal?

I used to be full time employed, receiving health insurance through my employer. In December I voluntarily left my employer, and my last day covered under there insurance was 12/31/22.

I have received mailings about COBRA, and my deadline to enroll in COBRA is 3/4/23 (i.e. tomorrow 😬). If I enrolled in COBRA, I would receive retroactive coverage back to 12/31/22 (while also needing to pay premiums for the last 2 months as well). COBRA costs ~$900/month.

I've found policies on healthcare.gov that are ~$150/month for minimal coverage. The earliest start date for coverage I could get with a healthcare.gov policy is April 1. There is no way to get retroactive coverage through a healthcare.gov policy unfortunately.

So I would like to save money by purchasing a healthcare.gov policy if the ~90 day lapse in coverage that would leave me with is not a big deal. If the lapse in coverage is a big deal, I might pay for COBRA for January, February, and March, and then switch over to a healthcare.gov policy in April anyway.

So: is a 90-day lapse in coverage a big deal these days? My understanding is that lapses used to be a big deal, as they were a way for insurers to deny coverage for pre-existing conditions, but that that is no longer possible after the ACA. Is that right? Are there any other significant downsides to a lapse in coverage?

A few more details:

– I live in Texas

– I'm currently traveling internationally a lot, where for lots of "everyday" care, it makes sense to just pay out of pocket. So my main goal with getting health insurance coverage is just to have me covered in case I unexpectedly require some really expensive healthcare.

Thanks for any advice anyone can provide! And of course I'm happy to answer any more questions about the situation.

submitted by /u/gizmo777
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