Insurance Pools Readied in Some States

The Obama administration is poised to award contracts worth hundreds of millions of dollars to about 20 states to run new insurance pools for people with serious medical problems.In another 20 states, where local officials chose not to participate, the federal government will run the pools through a private nonprofit entity. After struggling for months to fend off Republican attacks on the new healthcare law, White House officials hope the high-risk insurance pool will produce tangible benefits for people who are uninsured — and for Democrats running in midterm elections this fall. The law has become an issue in many races.