High-Risk Insurance Pools to Begin Next Month
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....the government has earmarked $5 billion for states to set up high-risk pools, as the programs are called, for people who have been uninsured for six months or longer. The pools are to provide a bridge for people most in need of coverage until the insurance exchanges begin operating in 2014. The pools will have no restrictions based on pre-existing conditions; coverage starts immediately and comes with no annual or lifetime limits. Deductibles and co-payments will be kept low.
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Even as the deadline for their debut approaches, however, questions remain about the new risk pools.
The law mandates that premiums for the new coverage must be the same as the standard rate for a healthy adult in that state. (Currently insurance for someone with a pre-existing condition, when available at all, can cost as much as 200 percent of the standard rate.)
That sounds reasonable, but it’s not necessarily affordable. Depending on where you live, premiums could still be several hundred dollars a month.
In addition, many experts worry that the $5 billion won’t be enough to last until 2014. The federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has estimated that the $5 billion will last for only two years.
“We just don’t know how many people will sign up for the new pools,” said Deborah J. Chollet, a senior fellow at Mathematica Policy Research, a public policy research company, who has studied existing state risk pools and the new plan. “Until we see what happens, there’s no way to know how long the money will last.”
Another concern is that only people who have been uninsured for six months or longer are eligible for the new pools. That means the newly unemployed or those paying exorbitant premiums because of a pre-existing condition — perhaps in their state’s existing high-risk pool — cannot simply switch to the more affordable high-risk pools.
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http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/26/health/policy/26patient.html?scp=1&sq=high%20risk%20pools%20healh%20insurance&st=cse
Insurance Pools Readied in Some States
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At the White House last week, Mr. Obama said, “On July 1st, uninsured Americans who’ve been locked out of the insurance market because of a pre-existing condition will now be able to enroll in a new national insurance pool, where they’ll finally be able to purchase quality, affordable health care, some for the very first time.”
A new study by the Congressional Budget Office says the money will “not be sufficient to cover the costs of all applicants.” If more than 200,000 people participate, the budget office said, “the available funds will probably be exhausted prior to 2013.” Consumers or states could then be left in the lurch, seeking other sources of coverage. Some governors cited this concern in deciding not to apply for federal money.
Richard S. Foster, the chief actuary at the Department of Health and Human Services, said 375,000 people could gain coverage in high-risk pools this year.
But he predicted, “By 2011 and 2012, the initial $5 billion in federal funding would be exhausted.”
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http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/27/health/policy/27insure.html?sq=high risk pools healh insurance&st=cse&adxnnl=1&scp=3&adxnnlx=1277654625-qSqtte6MHAqiMJkmL7WKXA
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