Haven't heard of the "high-risk pool"? In Dr. Sterling's opinion, the term "high-risk pool" is very misleading. When people who score 283 on an extensive health questionnaire are lumped in with people who can score as high as 2,000 points or more, the term "high-risk pool" is much too broad to be representative of "high" risk.

The fact is that the current high-risk pool scoring includes mild risk, moderate risk, and high risk. The bar has been set so low for so-called "high risk" that the whole classification procedure smacks of a process highly-biased to allow insurance companies to maximize profits at the expense of consumers. Dr. Sterling sees such a biased classification process as a form of corporate welfare. It is Dr. Sterling's hope that a coalition called "Fair Play in Health Assessment" will target this practice of "cherry picking" and push for a fair classification system that includes mild risk, moderate risk and high risk pools having different and appropriate coverage premiums.

Some links to articles that spotlight the controversy:

• Money Central at MSN.com article -- Prozac may be hazardous to your health insurance.

• Seattle Times article posted July 11, 2003 -- More in state to flunk health-screening test.

• Washington State Office of the Insurance Commissioner.

• Options in the Individual Market.

• Washington State Health Care Coverage Options.

• Basic Health in Washington State.

• Washington Post article posted January 15, 2003 -- Court Hears Arguments on Kentucky HMO Law. At issue in this case is a Kentucky "any willing provider" statute, which, like similar laws in more than a dozen states, requires HMOs to let patients see any doctor willing to meet the health insurer's conditions for participation in its network, whether the HMO selected that doctor for the network or not.

• AMA News article posted January 15, 2003 -- Managed care easing gatekeeper hassles. Thanks to physician and patient pressure -- and the realization it wasn't saving money -- some plans stop requiring patients to get referrals before seeing specialists.

- Best wishes, Ron Sterling M.D. (Seattle, Washington, USA)