At the end of June, Govhigh-risk individualsernor Schwarzenegger signed two billsthat create insurance pools for who have been deniedinsurance due to pre-existing conditions. The program is restricted toindividuals who have been without health insurance for at least six months.
The program will receive about $761 million in federalfunding but will be run by the state. It is expected to provide approximately25,000 to 30,000 Californians obtain health insurance. Currently, about 250,000Californians have been denied insurance coverage because of pre-existing healthcare problems.
The high-risk is designed to provide health insurance forhigh-risk individuals until 2014, when insurers will be prevented from denyinghealth insurance to adults with pre-existing conditions. Beginning inSeptember, insurers will no longer be able to deny health insurance coverage tochildren with pre-existing conditions.
The new insurance pool will be operated by California’s Managed Risk Medical InsuranceBoard. The Board has begun taking names of individuals interested in theprogram, although it hasn’t yet designed the insurance applications or thepolicies. The applications are expected to be available within a month. To learn more about the insurance pools or torequest an application, visit http://www.mrmib.ca.gov/.