As of this week, Americans who have been denied health insurance coverage by an insurer because of a pre-existing health condition can apply for insurance through high-risk insurance pools. Officials with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services have said they might shift funding among states if the new program to cover the uninsured runs out of money more quickly in some states than in others.

In Missouri, for instance, $81 million has been approved for the state’s high-risk insurance pool. The Missouri Health Insurance Pool will begin accepting applications for the pool in mid-July via its website or by phone. Costs will be supplemented by premiums paid by policy holders.

Kansas will also create a state-based high-risk insurance pool, and expects to receive $36M from HHS. These insurance pools will be phased out by 2014, when the health insurance reforms from the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act take effect.

To read a recent Wall Street Journal on the subject, which includes a nationwide map that outlines more than 20 states that have opted out of the federally run option and will run its own plan (HHS has earmarked $5 billion to aid state-based insurance pools), click here.