COBRA is expensive because you start paying the full premium for the plan you already had. People in employer-based plans are generally only paying about 25-30% of the cost of their plan; when they actually get exposed to the full premium they're usually surprised at how high it is. That premium is very likely higher, perhaps significantly so, than the options you're looking at in the open market.
The federal government is funding navigators in states that don't set up their own but the programs are smaller and they serve fewer people. They're better than nothing but they're not as effective as when the state gets involved and takes ownership. I would be surprised if PP doesn't have some people on staff whose job is specifically to walk you through your options and talk about this.
Every plan has an out-of-pocket maximum. That's the most you could possibly be asked to pay out of your own pocket in a given year (this doesn't include your monthly premium expense). What that is will depend on your plan, but next year that number legally cannot be higher than $6,850. It may be lower based on the plan you choose but it'll never be higher.
Plans usually have some kind of coinsurance after you've paid your deductible (unless you buy a low-end bronze plan where the deductible is the total out-of-pocket maximum--in which case once you've paid your deductible you've hit your legal limit). That's a percent of the bill you share in above the deductible. I don't know what the case is with your plan but let's imagine you have 20% coinsurance.
So let's say your provider's allowed amount for this procedure is $33,500 (which, by the way is likely a discount--an important thing you're buying when you buy an insurance plan is access to the negotiated prices they have with the health care providers in your area). That gets split up between your share and your insurer's share.
So your share is going to be your remaining calendar year deductible plus your coinsurance (with the caveat that your share can't be higher than the OOP max).
So: $3,000 + 0.2 * ($33,500 - $3,000) = $9,100. That's above your OOP max so the actual amount you're responsible for would just be your OOP max. Let's say you have the highest OOP max legally allowed: that means your share of the procedure's costs is $6,350 (since you're already paid $500 toward your OOP max in this scenario).
