The fight over the new health care law shifted Thursday to the states, as some governors claimed federal money to run a new insurance pool for people with serious medical problems, while others said that they would not operate the program. Friday is the deadline for states to tell the Obama administration whether they want to run the high-risk insurance pool for uninsured people with pre-existing conditions or whether they will leave the task to Kathleen Sebelius, the secretary of health and human services. Democratic officials in Montana, Pennsylvania, Washington and Wisconsin, among other states, said they intended to operate the program under contract with the federal government. They were joined by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger of California, a Republican. But Republican officials in Georgia, Nebraska, Nevada and Utah turned down the opportunity to run the pool, as did at least one Democratic governor, Dave Freudenthal of Wyoming. Freudenthal said that he worried that the state's federal allotment of $8 million 'may prove insufficient' to subsidize coverage for the next three and a half years. The temporary federal program runs from July of this year to Jan. 1, 2014, when insurers will be required to accept all applicants. Schwarzenegger said, 'We are ready to roll up our sleeves and work with the federal government.' California expects to receive $761 million. Karen E. Timberlake, secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Health Services, said she and Gov. James E. Doyle, a Democrat, had decided to participate in the federal program. The state expects to receive $73 million from the federal government. In Pennsylvania, Amy Kelchner, a spokesman for Gov. Edward G. Rendell, a Democrat, said he was eager to participate. Jonathan E. Seib, health policy adviser to Gov. Christine Gregoire of Washington, a Democrat, said: 'Even though the money is limited, it can provide assistance that would not otherwise be available to people with pre-existing conditions. We will manage the program within the dollars available, $102 million over three years.' But Gov. Dave Heieneman of Nebraska, a Republican, said, 'We are very concerned that funding will not be sufficient,' even if the state limits enrollment in the new insurance pool. The insurance commissioner of Georgia, John W. Oxendine, a Republican running for governor, described the pool as 'the first step in the recently enacted federal takeover of the United States health care system.' Another Republican, Gov. Gary R. Herbert of Utah, said federal officials had not been able to tell him what would happen if the state exhausted its allocation of federal money before 2014. 