Jean P. Hall of the Commonwealth Fund says high-risk insurance pools to cover people with pre-existing conditions, touted as a partial replacement for the Affordable Care Act, wouldn’t work, because:

1. They are prohibitively expensive to administer.
2. They are prohibitively expensive for consumers to purchase.
3. They offer much less than optimal coverage, often with annual and lifetime limits, coverage gaps, and very high premiums and deductibles.