McCain and the Uninsured

John McCain has (at least, partially) addressed what he wants to do with those uninsured Americans who have pre-existing conditions. According to the NY Times:

But rather than force insurers to stop cherry-picking the healthiest — and least expensive — patients, Mr. McCain proposed that the federal government work with states to cover those who cannot find insurance on the open market. With federal financial assistance, his plan would encourage states to create high-risk pools that would contract with insurers to cover consumers who have been rejected on the open market.

This has been tried before, and it has utterly failed. I know from experience -- when I moved to Maine for the winter in 2003, I was put in a pool for the insured-but-self-employed. Even my state representative admitted to me on the phone that it was a failure -- the healthier people on top opted for other policies, leading to a "death spiral" for those left in the uninsured pool, with their monthly premiums growing at an ever faster rate.

It will be absolutely no different on a national level.