Patients In 'High-Risk Pools' Must Scramble To Get Insurance

In an interview with NBC News last night, President Obama apologized to Americans who are losing health insurance plans that he had promised they could keep under the Affordable Care Act.

At least 3.5 million Americans have received cancellation notices from their insurance companies because their plans don't meet the standards of the law known as Obamacare.

There is a second, smaller group of people that also faces losing coverage — the 300,000 people in what are called “high-risk pools ” run by states and the federal government.

These people suffer from severe chronic diseases, such as cancer, heart failure, and kidney disease, and were turned down for health insurance before the Affordable Care Act was passed.

But many of these high-risk pools are being phased out next month as the ACA kicks in, potentially leaving some people in the lurch if they can’t get enrolled in a health insurance plan in time.