Senate Approves Bill on State High-Risk Pools
The Senate on Wednesday approved by voice vote a bill (HR 4519) sponsored by Rep. John Shadegg (R-Ariz.) that reauthorizes grants to state-run health insurance pools for high-risk residents (CQ Today, 2/1).
The bill would authorize $75 million in grants through 2010 to help states run health insurance pools for residents who are unable to purchase health insurance because they have chronic illnesses or other pre-existing health conditions.
Under the bill, the funding would be divided by allocating 40% among all states, 30% to states based on their number of uninsured residents and 30% based on the number of people in state risk pools (California Healthline, 12/19/05).
The House passed the bill on Dec. 17, 2005 (CQ Today, 2/1).