Hundreds of thousands of Americans with preexisting medical conditions -- many of whom have been unable to obtain health insurance at any price -- are now eligible for affordable coverage. The federal government has begun paying for new insurance programs aimed at people with chronic health problems who have been rejected for coverage by private insurers.

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The temporary high-risk pools are designed to last until 2014, when new rules take effect that prohibit insurers from rejecting individuals based on their health. However, many health-care experts doubt that the $5-billion federal subsidy will be sufficient to last that long. The new pools are expected to help about 200,000 people at any one time -- only a small slice of the 46 million Americans without health insurance.

Twenty-nine states and the District of Columbia will administer the plans themselves; the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services will run the plans in the remaining 21 states. Go to the government's excellent new Web site, www.healthcare.gov, for details (see Click Your Way to Better Health).

Tough restrictions. The idea of providing coverage to people with preexisting conditions sounds good in theory, but there's a big catch: You must be uninsured for at least six months to qualify for the new high-risk pool. The HHS-run program also requires you to provide a letter proving that you have been rejected for private coverage within the past six months, or were offered a policy that excluded coverage for your medical condition, and that you were uninsured for six months. State plans have similar restrictions.