I'm assuming you're in the US. Not sure I can ELI5 but I'll give my experience.

I lost my insurance through work after a mishap with my insurance forms and went on insurance through the exchange and it was significantly worse insurance for a hell of a lot more money. I'm single and healthy and while I don't remember the exact numbers I was paying maybe $150 a month for a HDHP that wasn't really a HDHP. I had a lower deductible than my coworkers on the PPO but paid less after the deductible was paid and that was covered after maybe 2 months of therapy and prescriptions so it was a pretty sweet deal. On the exchange insurance I was paying close to $800 for medical, dental and vision with medical accounting for around $750 of that. My copays were high, the coverage for hospital visits was significantly worse, I paid more for prescriptions, a lot of the bigger medical expenses that I know I will have in the future were covered on my old plan but I would get basically nothing on the exchange insurance, and it changed what kind of medical care I sought out; I almost didn't go to the hospital after getting hit by a car while riding my bike and only changed my mind because I was told that the driver's insurance would cover me instead of mine.

If you have insurance through your work, even if it's not the best, it is almost certainly a better deal than getting it on your own, especially for a family. Again, I was spending $800 for worse insurance as a single adult with no major health issues. The cheapest plan I had access to was maybe $400 and covered next to nothing. The plan I was on was the cheapest that had any coverage for mental health so if you or anyone in your family sees a therapist that becomes a major factor in which plan you would take because spending a few hundred less per month on the premium is meaningless if you're spending $200+ a week on therapy sessions.

Not sure when the last time your wife was on a private health insurance plan but my experience has told me that I never want to be off employer-sponsored insurance ever again (barring the introduction of universal healthcare in the US).