When I retired in 2015 from a government job with GREAT group BCBS PPO health insurance, the COBRA premiums were actually less than ACA premiums (I don't qualify for a subsidy), and the COBRA coverage was the same great coverage I had in my job, so I kept that for the full 18 months allowed, and was very sorry to say goodbye to it.
I've been on an ACA BCBS HMO bronze plan (HSA eligible) for 2 years now, and currently pay $899/month.
I have several chronic conditions, and it was important to me to find a plan that covered one particular doctor. Easier said than done, because the BCBS online provider search function and BCBS customer service are very flawed. Both said that my doctor was NOT in network, but the insurance specialist in the doctor's office insisted to me that they took all BCBS plans--and she was right, my doc is, in fact, in network.
BUT--my plan does not cover any of the hospitals where this doctor performs surgery. How crazy is that? I hope not to need any more surgery from her, but if I did, as best I understand it, my choices would be: try to persuade BCBS to cover surgery in one of my doc's hospitals; negotiate for BCBS to pay what they would pay for an in-network hospital, and pay the balance myself; perhaps be faced with paying the entire hospital bill myself.
This is just an example of the challenges of leaving behind a great group plan. But I still don't regret doing it. I'm grateful that, thanks to the ACA I can buy insurance, and am not in the un-insurable category. I'm grateful that I can meet the high deductible, the high co-pays (just had an ER visit with a $1,000 co-pay), and the high out-of-pocket costs of my plan. I'm grateful that there is no lifetime maximum (not that I've come close to that). And I'm grateful that the ACA plans cover preventive tests with no deductible (just had a mammogram and a colonoscopy and didn't even have a co-pay on these--they were fully covered).
Good luck.