COBRA quandry

I left my job June 13 and my employer terminated my Florida Blue overage on the same date. I assumed I would pick up COBRA until I'm eligible for Medicare in 8 months. HR has no information other than (1) COBRA is handled by a 3rd party that they don't know how to contact, and (2) they have 30 days from ending of coverage to send me information on COBRA election. Which by my calculation is next Sunday.

I got a quote for a healthgare.gov policy but I just read that I must request a special enrollment within 30 days of loss of coverage. Which again, is next Sunday.

I think the ACA policy was like $560 a month and I imagine the COBRA will be about the same. But without knowing, I feel like I need to go ahead and request the ACA special enrollment just in cast. If COBRA is less than $600, I want to keep my insurance because I've met my out-of-pocket for 2025. I'm stalling on a couple of medical procedures until this crap gets sorted out.

Do I need to request to request the ACA special enrollment to keep my options open?

Is there anything I can do to get the COBRA thing resolved?

Thanks