California takes a major step to help citizens get health insurance
Residents in California that have formerly been denied health insurance coverage due to a pre-existing condition can breathe a little easier today. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has signed two bills that are designed to help eliminate this from happening to them in the future. The bills will allow the state to create an insurance pool for those that are rated as high risk by the insurance industry. The money needed, an estimated 761 million dollars, will be collected from the federal government to create this pool. A portion of that money will help the insurance companies subsidize the cost of taking on more expensive customers.
It is hoped that this pool will help nearly 30,000 Californians buy health insurance. However that doesn’t cover the estimated quarter of a million Californians who have been previously denied coverage due to cancer, asthma, diabetes and other conditions. In 2014 insurers will no long be able to deny coverage to adults for having those conditions. This bill is meant to bridge that gap until this ban takes place. Children who suffer from pre-existing conditions will be covered beginning in September under the national health care reform. The pool will be an improvement from the current program available which only assists about 7,000 Californians and has a waiting list.
The second bill is a companion bill, SB227, which allows the state to setup the program and provide coverage through making contracts with private insurance companies. Funding for the program may be available as early as July. 
That sounds good but what will the cost be prohibitive if I have a pre-existing condition?