These states are directly solving the problems of the unfortunate few without imposing costly regulations on everyone else. And while we do not know how many people must pay excessively high health insurance premiums, it could not be very many. Only about 3 percent of the population say they are in fair or poor health. Solving the problem with high-risk pools. However, very few people stay in risk pools for long periods of time, and the annual turnover rate of the pools is between 30 and 60 percent.
People leave risk pools and obtain other health insurance in a variety of ways.
In most states, the premium for risk pool insurance is between 25 and 50 percent higher than for comparable policies a healthy person can buy. However, some states could require people to pay more if the program's losses warrant it. Risk pool premiums are two and a half times as high in Florida, for example. And while Montana is legally permitted to charge as high as 400 percent of the standard premium, currently no one pays more than 250 percent. In Minnesota, one of the most generous states, risk pool insurance is less than 25 percent more expensive.