Do I Have to Renew My Health Plan Annually?

You'll need to renew your health plan each year, even if it's on auto-renew you'll want to check the plan benefits and cost assistance amounts. If your plan isn't offered, and your state offers auto-renew, you can be moved to a similar plan with similar cost assistance. Similar isn't always truly comparable, and that is why it's important to check the new plan selection as soon as open enrollment starts each year.

In this case your insurer may be in the clear. Despite you perceiving the plan as inadequate there is only so bad a plan can be under the ACA (out-of-pocket maximums and deductibles are limited by law). Your initial plan would have covered your treatment in some way, but you are owing out-of-pocket without the amount being applied to cost sharing because you switched to a new plan. If it is with the same carrier you can try appealing this. You can also try getting put back on the original plan and seeing if that coverage could simply be paid for retroactively and you could be treated as on that initial plan. That however is a long shot. Certainly this is all worth talking to HealthCare.Gov about and appealing, but technically this is all legal and correct.