About half of the 35 states operating insurance pools for high-risk residents had planned to close the pools after the Affordable Care Act’s insurance exchanges opened, but some of those states are considering extending their programs in light of ongoing problems with the exchanges. The move would temporarily keep some people with serious illnesses out of the new insurance exchanges, but it could also destabilize the market as insurers set premiums for 2015 in the spring. The Wall Street Journal (tiered subscription model)