The state has tapped Medical Mutual of Ohio to run its so-called “high-risk insurance pool,” a program established under the federal health reform law that’s designed to provide affordable insurance for people with pre-existing conditions.
About 5,000 Ohioans would be covered through the pool, according to a statement from the Ohio Department of Insurance.
“We selected Medical Mutual to operate the temporary high-risk pool program in Ohio after a competitive process because they can begin to cover Ohioans by August and will do so at a low cost,” said Mary Jo Hudson, director of the Department of Insurance.
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The state has received $152 million from the federal government to operate the program. No state funds will be used for it, according to the statement. Ohioans eligible for the program will pay “a standard-rate premium” for coverage, with the federal subsidy intended to cover the rest of the costs. However, many skeptics question that assertion, given a federal government report that found the the program would burn through the $5 billion in federal funding set aside for it as soon as next year, even though the money is supposed to last until 2014.
The state-run high-risk pools are temporary and will be phased out in 2014 when most of the provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act — the official name for the federal health overhaul bill — take effect.
Ohio Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown, a strong advocate of the reform law, issued a statement praising the state’s selection of Medical Mutual. “I applaud the state of Ohio for taking the steps necessary to ensure that Ohio-based Medical Mutual will soon be able to offer affordable insurance options to Ohioans who have been victims of our broken health insurance system,” he said.
The federal government has said it wants the high-risk pools to begin enrollment by July 1.
