losing coverage is considered a qualifying event meaning you'll be allowed to sign up for a health plan even if it's outside the open enrollment period. also keep in mind that this first obamacare open enrollment period goes through the end of march 2014 so if you lose coverage at the first of the year you'll still have a few months to sign up during open enrollment.
what happens if you have health insurance coverage at the moment but lose coverage say the first of the year? . can you apply for coverage at that time? in other words is there open enrollment due to instances such as this? also do you get penalized if you have coverage now but lose it after the first of the year?