Denise Weeks, of Glastonbury, recently retired and hadn't worried about too much until her husband's insurance plan dropped them both when he went on Medicare.
"Literally, the day before surgery I'm getting a call from doctors saying, 'You're not showing up as insured,'" Weeks said.
For the past three years, she has had expensive COBRA coverage, but that is running out. Since Denise isn't 65, she's not eligible for Medicare.
"It's just a very nerve-wracking process," Weeks said.
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That's one of the main reasons Denise said she is going to sign up for a health plan on the new health care exchange, which was created as part of the Affordable Care Act.
"This is a good thing," Weeks said. "This is a good thing for people in that in between stage."
Access Health CT, the quasi-state agency in charge of the exchange, has spent months trying to get the word out about when to sign up.
Weeks has been browsing the Access Health website, where people can go to sign up for a health plan, starting October 1.
Through the site's calculator, Denise found out she isn't eligible for a subsidy and she doesn't expect the monthly rates to be much cheaper, but she knows the coverage will be better.
Under the new law, you can't be dropped for pre-existing conditions.
"I can sleep at night knowing that I'm not going to be denied coverage," Weeks said.
