Your taxes would only be 40% (actually 47%) if you make beyond $500k a year. Cobra rates are quite affordable. I was on Cobra when I was laid off due to covid, and it was $550 a month for top tier healthcare.
$550 for gold level insurance is expected for someone young, which I guess you are.
You can ballpark almost anyone’s premiums based on the figures in link below. I would use Omnia Gold or Omnia Silver HSA numbers, and plus or minus 20% for your state.
https://www.state.nj.us/dobi/division_insurance/ihcseh/ihcra...
Those two statements are in odds with one another. $550 is quite a large sum of money to put out each month, particularly when you don't have an income.
https://www.healthcare.gov/glossary/premium-tax-credit
Generally, decent insurance costs anywhere from $400 to $1,200 per month, depending on age of insured, plus up to $9k out of pocket maximum for individual and $18k for families, per calendar year.
So to adequate insure one’s self for healthcare expenses, you would need $18k or $36k for out of pocket expenses (since things can happen at end of calendar year), plus $400 to $1,200 per person per month minus any premium tax credits. For a young family, I would guesstimate $24k to $30k per year in premiums minus any tax credits.
Basically, be poor enough to qualify for free healthcare, or earn enough to be able to spend a few tens of thousands of dollars for a healthcare emergency, but try not to be inbetween.
(I actually do not have any compulsion to drink coffee, or anything much other than tap water).
On a serious note, I cannot blame many young people for eschewing forming families of having kids when faced with the numbers I quoted.
Obviously family plans etc. will be considerably higher.
You'd get that withheld money back after filing taxes, but most people who are laid off would prefer to have that money now.
If Stripe is making regular salary-like payments instead of one lump sum, then the taxes would be pretty much the same as always.
You can get health insurance from healthcare.gov
Granted not California, but the federal bit is the same - https://oci.wi.gov/Documents/Consumers/HealthInsuranceLostCo...
> I thought the open enrollment period was already over for HealthCare.gov. Can I still enroll?
> Yes, if you have just lost your health insurance, you are eligible for a 60-day special enrollment period. You can work with an enrollment assister, an insurance agent, or use HealthCare.gov to enroll in a new insurance plan. You may also qualify for a special enrollment period if you have experienced a life event such as moving, getting married, having a baby, or adopting a child.