Where Oh Where For Temporary Healthcare?

May 27, 2010 5:13 PM

Where do I apply for the new Temporary High Risk Pool?

I live in California. In Obama's Health Care program there is a temporary high risk pool for those with pre-existing conditions that will begin around June 23 and last til 2014. I can find no information as to where to sign up for this program.

posted by goalyeehah to Health & Fitness (8 answers total)

Best answer: I found this website, which leads to this PDF. I have to move some furniture out, or I'd try to pick it apart further, but I think I spied some contact info on the PDF somewhere.
posted by rachaelfaith at 6:15 PM on May 27, 2010 [1 favorite]

The article to which you link indicates that this pool is not available until 2014.

Assuming the article is correct, you can't find any information about where to sign up for this program because it does not yet exist.
posted by dfriedman at 6:16 PM on May 27, 2010

My apologies, then, goalyeehah. I didn't want to bypass it just in case it had valuable info, but didn't have the time to read it thoroughly.
posted by rachaelfaith at 6:33 PM on May 27, 2010

Response by poster: If you look at the bottom of the page at plan B, there is a temporary pool.
posted by goalyeehah at 6:56 PM on May 27, 2010

According to this fact sheet from the HHS and this PDF (dated April 22, 2010) from the California high risk pool, the temporary federal high risk pool won't be available until July 1.
posted by mhum at 7:21 PM on May 27, 2010

Yeah, I see what you mean about the article--it's not well written, but it looks like you are correct about there being this high risk pool.

Apologies.

Anyway it looks like someone provided you with the relevant forms.
posted by dfriedman at 9:43 PM on May 27, 2010

Best answer: Yeah, rachelfaith's link looks like the place to keep an eye on. Sounds like CA has expressed intent to submit an application to the feds, with a deadline of June 1, and then the feds will (presumably) approve and fund it by July 1. That website's probably the place to watch, and they may put up their application materials after they submit it (i.e. by next week) so you'd know more about the details of how they intend for it to work.
posted by EmilyClimbs at 11:58 PM on May 27, 2010

Probably worth mentioning here--you should be careful to not apply for the current state high-risk pool before the federal program kicks into effect. In all the states that have decided to take the money under PPACA and run the federally-funded high-risk pool themselves, there are still a lot of questions. However one thing is definitely clear: you must be uninsured for 6 months to qualify for the federally-funded high-risk pool, and if you're in the state-run high-risk pool (MRMIB in California), you will not qualify for the federally-funded high risk pool because you will be insured.

It's almost certainly the case that the federally-funded high-risk pool will have lower premiums than any existing state high-risk pool (but might have higher copays and costsharing). Given how quickly this is all being thrown together, though--3 months is an insanely short time to launch a $5 billion program--I would be totally unsurprised if the state doesn't have the details on how to apply until very shortly before the program starts.
posted by iminurmefi at 6:37 AM on May 28, 2010