(b) In calendar year nineteen hundred and ninety-seven, the carrier shall enroll eligible individuals into guaranteed issue health plans during an open enrollment period commencing June first and ending July thirty-first with coverage to become effective September first. The commissioner may postpone said open enrollment period and effective date of coverage should a substantial number of carriers, due to substantial administrative delay, be unable to enroll eligible individuals into a guaranteed issue health plan during the open enrollment period commencing June first and ending July thirty-first; provided, however, that any carrier that is unable to enroll eligible individuals into a guaranteed issue health plan during the open enrollment period beginning June first and ending July thirty-first, for reasons other than substantial administrative delay, may be subject to a fine of one thousand dollars for every day in which it is unable to enroll such eligible individuals in said guaranteed issue health plan and any other penalties available under this chapter.

1. (1) A carrier shall enroll any person who meets the requirements of an eligible individual as defined in section 2741 of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, 42 U.S.C. section 300gg–41(b), into a guaranteed issue health plan if such person requests guaranteed issue coverage within 63 days of termination of any prior creditable coverage. Coverage shall become effective within 30 days of the date of application, subject to reasonable verification of eligibility.
2. (2) A carrier shall enroll any eligible individual who does not meet the requirements of an eligible individual as defined in section 2741 of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, 42 U.S.C. section 300gg–41(b), into a guaranteed issue health plan; provided, however, that a carrier may impose a pre-existing condition exclusion for no more than six months or a waiting period, which shall be applied uniformly without regard to any health status-related factors, for no more than six months following the individual's effective date of coverage. If a policy includes a waiting period, emergency services shall be covered to the same extent that emergency services are covered during a waiting period under chapter 176J. In determining whether a pre-existing condition exclusion or a waiting period applies, all health benefit plans shall credit the time such person was covered under prior creditable coverage provided by a carrier if the previous coverage was continuous to a date not more than 63 days prior to the date of the request for the new coverage and if the previous coverage was reasonably actuarially equivalent to the new coverage. Coverage shall become effective within 30 days of the date of application. The commissioner shall promulgate regulations relative to pre-existing condition exclusions and waiting periods permissible pursuant to this section.