Not true............but if you have the page from the Healthcare.gov web site...please post. Originally Posted by Whirlawayhttp://healthinsurance.about.com/od/...-Insurance.htm
http://healthaffairs.org/blog/2011/0...itching-plans/
The Affordable Care Act appropriately establishes an initial open enrollment period (before exchanges first make coverage available, starting in January 2014), as well as annual open enrollment periods in subsequent years. In an open enrollment period, people would be free to sign up for a plan or switch plans. Only in limited circumstances would people be able to enroll in or switch plans outside of an open enrollment period.
This restriction is a critical feature: it ensures that individuals and families don’t wait until they get sick to enroll in coverage, or switch to more comprehensive coverage when they are about to have an expensive medical procedure. That is a problem Massachusetts initially faced under its health reform initiative, but the state recently tightened its exchange enrollment rules in response to reports that people were enrolling in coverage for short periods and then dropping coverage after receiving medical services. At the same time, however, it is essential to ensure that people have the freedom to move into coverage or into different coverage when they experience certain changes in their lives in the course of the year.
HHS’s exchange rule proposes an initial open enrollment period that would run from October 1, 2013 through February 28, 2014, with shorter annual enrollment periods (October 15 through December 7) in subsequent years. An extended initial open enrollment is particularly important because individuals and families will need time to understand their new plan options and enroll in coverage when the exchanges get up and running. An enrollment period of at least five months would also spread out the work of enrolling millions of new beneficiaries through exchanges.
https://www.healthcare.gov/glossary/...llment-period/