Is this type of thing common knowledge? Laws and benefits change all the time. It's entirely possible she didn't know.

Also, the way it works is on annual income. If she had already earned greater then 138% of poverty level that year, she wouldn't have been eligible.

If she was less then 400% on the year and greater then 138%, she would be eligible for an exchange plan that is subsidized, but she would've been on hook for the some or all of the subsidies when paying taxes if she ended up getting a new job.

It also depends on the kind of insurance she lost. If it was a non-exchange individual plan, she wasn't even eligible for the subsidized exchange plan.

Source: https://www.healthinsurancecolorado.net/lost-job-apply-for-m...