ACA - At Enrollment Deadline

I've asked this before, WHY is signing up for health insurance UNLIKE any other insurance where you can get the insurance ANYTIME?  Why is health insurance restricted to several months in a year?

"At enrollment deadline, affordability may be real test of Affordable Care Act" PBS NewsHour 3/31/2014

Excerpt

JUDY WOODRUFF (NewsHour):  It’s the last day for Americans to sign up for the new health insurance exchanges in this first year of the program, and there was plenty of demand.  There were also more glitches and problems.

But, in stark contrast to the launch last fall, hundreds of thousands have been able to sign up in recent days.  And the system seemed more resilient than in October.

The HealthCare.gov website bent under a last minute crush of traffic, more than 125,000 users at any given moment.  The site was out of service for nearly four hours this morning, and it briefly went down again in the afternoon.

WOMAN:  I can’t believe this is actually working.

WOMAN:  Yes, it works very well.

JUDY WOODRUFF:  Some last-minute applicants sought out help centers around the country.  This woman signed up for coverage in Arlington, Virginia.

SARA SHALVA, Insurance Applicant:  It’s going to save us thousands of dollars, thousands of dollars a year, in terms of what — our prescription — his prescription is going to be covered.  We’re going to — our monthly payment is considerably less.  We’re getting better coverage.

JUDY WOODRUFF:  Others were frustrated.  One Texas woman said she gave up trying to enroll online.