California’s Republican congressmen were crucial to getting the American Health Care Act passed through the U.S. House of Representatives last week. One change to that bill was key in getting the support of at least one of those congressman: additional money for something known as ‘high-risk pools’. However, they are not a new idea in health care and in fact have been tried before right here in the Golden State. California’s experience could help inform how the policy might work if it becomes law, and the challenges it could face. Since the bill passed the house last week with just two votes to spare, every ‘yes’ vote was critical, including those of local congressmen Kevin McCarthy, Devin Nunes, David Valadao, Jeff Denham and Tom McClintock. A day before the vote, Valadao told Valley Public Radio one element of the bill that he liked is the concept of ‘high-risk pools’ which would be akin to a separate insurance market for sick people. “And so with the high risk pools, what you do is
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