If I sign up for a Bronze plan during open enrollment, can I bump my coverage up to a higher level several months later if I find out that I need surgery?

Q. If I sign up for a Bronze plan during open enrollment, can I bump my coverage up to a higher level several months later if I find out that I need surgery?

A. In general no, although it might be possible depending on the circumstances.

If you experience a qualifying event that triggers a special enrollment period (SEP), you may be able to switch to a different plan. But a need for medical care is never a qualifying event, and rules that HHS finalized in 2017 limit the ability to switch to a plan at a different metal level outside of open enrollment.

Plan changes are only possible during open enrollment and special enrollment periods triggered by a qualifying event. These rules apply both on and off-exchange. So regardless of whether you buy your health insurance plan through the exchange/Marketplace or outside the exchange, you won't have an opportunity to switch to a different plan until the following year (during open enrollment) unless you experience a qualifying event.

And the rules that mostly limit people to plan changes within the same metal level apply to most SEP plan changes. There are some circumstances in which a SEP can be used to switch to a plan at a different metal level, including a person becoming newly eligible for cost-sharing reductions (only available with Silver-level plans) or adding a new family member to the household.¹ But in general, plan changes made during a SEP are limited to other plans at the same metal level you already have.

Open enrollment runs from November 1 to January 15 in most states, and allows you to switch to any plan you like, at any metal level. But once open enrollment closes, your ability to switch to a different plan later in the year is sharply limited.

Louise Norris is an individual health insurance broker who has been writing about health insurance and health reform since 2006. She has written hundreds of opinions and educational pieces about the Affordable Care Act for healthinsurance.org.