If every citizen in Utah were insured, our health care premiums would go down.  Sounds like double talk doesn't it.

According to a study done by "Families USA", two-thirds of the health care costs paid to health care providers in behalf of the uninsured is paid by higher health care premiums.  In 2005, that amount was $922 on a family plan and $341 on an individual health care plan.

Uninsured people cannot afford preventative and primary care and are more likely to use the emergency departments and/or hospital inpatient services for their urgent or delayed care.  Emergency department care is more costly than care provided in physicians' offices.

Utah's percentage of emergency department admissions for uninsured patients increased from 27% in 1997 to 42% in 2005.

An estimated 292,800 Utahns (11.6%) were without health insurance coverage in 2005.  The percentage of uninsured has increased from an estimated 8.7% in 2001 to 9.1% in 2003 and 10.2% in 2004.  Persons with health insurance were more likely than persons without health insurance to have a regular source of primary health care, and were more likely to ave routine preventive care.  Persons without coverage have often delayed seeking needed care and found services difficult to afford.

Utah is the 6th Healthiest State but 34th in Providing Health Insurance in the U.S.

The United health Foundation's America's Health RankingsTM ranked Utah as the 6th healthiest state in 2006 and 4th in 2005.  The decreased ranking was partially due to four worsening trends out of the 18 health determinants monitored in their annual report.  They were increased prevalence of smoking and obesity, increased rates of people who lack health insurance and percentage of people who reported poor physical health days.

The Utah Legislature needs to take a hard look at the health care plan adopted by Massachusetts for ideas on how to insure every Utahan.

The Utah Health Policy Project  has introduced six principles for health care reform in Utah.  I support their initiatives.


                                    THE SIX PRINCIPLES OF HEALTH CARE REFORM IN UTAH

1. Every Utah resident will have financial support for medically necessary care.
2. Every Utah resident will have an unrestricted choice of physician, and any willing licensed physician will be available for patient choice.
3. Universal medically necessary services will be funded without increasing per capita costs.
4. Efficient use of available revenues will realize sufficient savings to fund medically necessary services for all Utah residents with budget neutrality.
5. Health services will be provided by private sector doctors and hospitals in cooperation with each other and public health agencies, without the waste of competition, including advertising.
6. Revenues for health care will be owned and operated by and for the people by a publicly responsive, private, not-profit trust fund.