Proportions of assigned-risk drivers vary greatly among states. Each state has it's own eligibility rules for its assigned-risk pool, but typically a driver must have been declined coverage or offered a policy at a rate higher than the pool's premiums within the last 60 days. Some states require that a driver must have been turned down more than once.
Nationwide, assigned-risk drivers made up roughly 1.2 percent of the total written auto premiums in 2006 (the latest data available).
By contrast, according to a 2007 report by United Health Foundation, 15.9 percent of all Americans have no health care coverage, and that number is rising.
State health care risk pools were first implemented in Minnesota in 1976. State-sponsored risk pools are intended to help those who can afford health insurance, but who are denied coverage by greedy insurers because of a pre-existing condition.
The state-sponsored plans create pools of all the individuals denied coverage by profit-driven private insurance companies, then provide state-sponsored health insurance plans these individuals can buy, but at a much higher cost than if they were able to qualify for a private group plan.
Currently, only 34 states offer some form of risk pool, and these risk pools cover approximately 183,000 people.
Some risk pools do an excellent job of providing alternatives for their citizens, while others do very little because their plans are not designed well, or are not funded properly, or they're simply unaffordable.
Risk pools are state-created, nonprofit associations that, in most states do not require tax dollars for their operations.
A risk pool can be a temporary stopping point for individuals who are denied health coverage or for individuals who need to fill a gap in insurance coverage, but are not viable alternatives for the health care reform advocated by President Obama.
47 million US residents currently have no health care coverage. We don't need the GOP to pass reform.
