California Establishes High-Risk Health Insurance Program

Published: Wed 30 Jun 2010

Wendy Blair

The Managed Risk Medical Insurance Board of California has begun accepting names of residents with preexisting medical conditions who would like to apply for a newly created high-risk medical insurance pool that the federal government will fund and the state will run, according to a Sacramento newspaper.

While the board has not yet crafted health insurance plans or applications for the high-risk pool, it will keep a list of people interested so they may be notified when application materials become available.

High-Risk Program Signed into Law

Yesterday, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a bill to establish a high-risk health insurance program, which is limited to applicants with preexisting medical conditions who have been uninsured for a minimum of six months.

The high-risk insurance pool, which is a critical component of the federal health care reform law, would insure such residents of California until 2014, when a different provision of the health care overhaul will ban health insurers from denying medical coverage to applicants with preexisting conditions.

The program will help California draw roughly $761 million in federal funds and may extend coverage to approximately 25,000-30,000 Californians.