Health care reform will be a hot topic in the upcoming legislative session, when the Utah State Legislature will vote on a statewide plan that would emphasize individual responsibility and consumer choices regarding health care, while advocating for more affordable and accessible insurance for all Utahns.
If the bill is voted into law, the plan would not create immediate changes and probably wouldn't have any initial costs, said Norm Thurston, health economist for the Utah Department of Health. Instead, it would create a "foundational framework" for future changes.
"Any sort of reform can't happen in one year," Thurston said.
House Majority Leader David Clark, R-Santa Clara, is sponsoring the bill, which he said would keep costs low, enhance access and improve quality of health insurance and health care in Utah. The plan would not be socialized medicine, he emphasized, and would not force Utahns to buy one kind of insurance.
"We're not trying to convert Uncle Sam into Dr. Sam," Clark said.
Clark said the bill contains a three year, six-step plan to health care reform. The steps would be to give consumers power to act in making health care decisions by providing more information and giving the best value for affordable costs, promote healthy behaviors to decrease the cost of health care, decrease the number of uninsured Utahns, create a multi-year framework for health reform, build collaborative efforts with health care providers, insurers and the Legislature and allow all citizens to receive tax cuts on health insurance.
Although the plan would be applicable to the state only, it would also rely partly on federal programs and must comply with federal health care regulations.
There are 306,000 uninsured Utahns, and the numbers are increasing, Clark said. In 2007 the number of uninsured people was at least 10 percent higher than in 2006, he said.
Clark said almost half of the uninsured would be eligible for the federal Children's Health Insurance Program or Utah programs to buy private insurance.
"We want to create a program to reach out and encourage enrollment into the CHIP program and also Medicaid," Clark said.
The bill would require Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr.'s Office of Economic Development, the health care industry and legislators to work together to create a strategic plan, timeline and principle medical care for the best clinical practice.
There are 16 issues the bill forces these groups to examine. One issue would allow citizens to keep their health insurance policies if they lose or leave their job.
Another issue is whether the state should mandate health insurance for all Utahns and to determine how they would enforce such a policy. This would include having mandatory policy for all state-sponsored universities and colleges. Legislators and government workers, as well as insurance companies, would have to develop a plan and bring it back to the legislature next year to make a decision, Clark said.
"Whether it's yes or no (for mandatory insurance), we'll have to stay tuned," Clark said.
Kim Wirthlin, U vice president for government relations, called mandatory health insurance a "politically charged issue." She said the U would not make student health insurance mandatory unless there is a state-wide requirement for universities, something the U supports.
The U had a mandatory health insurance policy in the 1990s but changed it because there was not enough state support, causing administrators to worry whether they would lose students to schools without a mandatory policy.
"With overall reform this ultimately has to be part of it, but we've got to lay the groundwork to get support more broadly," Wirthlin said.
Thurston said the state supports everyone having health insurance but won't take a blanket approach.
"Do we want everyone to have health insurance? Yes. But do we want everyone to have the same health insurance? No," Thurston said. "There's no one-size-fits-all solution."
Wirthlin said the U is supportive of the health care reform bill but worries about how changes will be funded. Clark said it could be funded partly through a provider's tax or a tax on hospitals, but Wirthlin said the U could not afford to make this the only source of funding.
Thurston said no official decisions about funding have been made. Using a hospital tax would make them eligible for federal matching funds, but he said he worries about this tax, because it's basically a tax on sick people.
Clark said the bill represents needed change for Utah and will allow Utahns to benefit from a stronger economy and live longer and more productive lives.
"Meaningful health system reform will require the best thinking and goodwill of all Utahns," he said. "It is a golden opportunity to act before a one-size-fits-all approach is mandated by the federal government. It's a fiscally conservative approach that reaps the benefits of private market, encourages personal responsibility and maximizes consumer choice and information we believe will best serve Utah."
r.mcconkie@chronicle.utah.edu
