Ending preexisting conditions practices may come at a steep price

One of President Obama's main selling points for pushing for the biggest overhaul of the U.S. health care system in decades was that it would end the insurance companies' odious practice of denying people medical coverage because of their preexisting medical conditions. One recently released study questions whether the government is adequately funding a temporary fix to the problem.

Patients with preexisting medical conditions who have lacked insurance for six months would be placed in high-risk insurance pools until broader reforms take effect in January 2014 under The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. According to the National Institute of Health Care Reform, the $5 billion allocated to fund the program over four years will only cover as few as 200,000 people a year. The pools are set to open July 1. Thirty five states operate their own programs.