High Risk Health Insurance Pools: Helping People Get Coverage Now

Many of the health care reform provisions helping those with pre-existing health conditions get coverage won't be in effect until 2014. To help Americans with conditions that are having trouble finding coverage, the bill established temporary high risk health insurance pools.

From July 2010 to January 2014, individuals with medical conditions will be able to obtain health insurance through the pools.

How do high risk health insurance pools work?

The high risk pools will require enrollees to pay out-of-pocket costs and premiums. Those premiums cannot be any higher than what an individual without medical conditions pays for health insurance.

Along with enrollee premiums, the high risk pools will be covered by the $5 billion allotted for the pools. This will help states fund the programs and provide benefits that residents would otherwise be ineligible for or could not afford.

The high risk health insurance pools will provide preventive care, emergency services, prescriptions, doctor visits and more.

The high risk pools are set up on a state-to-state basis. States could choose to run the pool if they already had one established or they could allow the federal government to run the pool. Some states may restrict the number of enrollees while others may accept all that apply.