According to a new report from the Commonwealth Fund, most states' high-risk health-insurance pools do not provide adequate access to health insurance for those denied coverage in the private market.

The report, "Insuring the Uninsurable: An Overview of State High-Risk Health Insurance Pools," found that the twenty-nine currently existing high-risk pools insured about 110,000 people who either had been denied coverage by private insurers because of pre-existing medical conditions, were eligible for coverage under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA), or were Medicare beneficiaries in need of supplemental insurance. The report, which was co-authored by Lori Achman and Deborah Chollet, also found that many state programs carried high deductibles and co-payments and restricted lifetime benefits.

"It is troubling that programs designed to protect those who are shut out of the private health insurance system have so many restrictions," commented Commonwealth Fund president Karen Davis. "This is a serious gap in our health-care system, which leaves individuals with serious medical conditions at risk of not getting the health care they need and incurring large medical bills."