Fair 46° F

Home > Archive > Feb 14, 2008

By Brad Last
Week two has drawn to a close and I’m now beginning to get into the full swing of the legislative routine. The days can be long, but there is always a sense of urgency since we only have 45 days to consider so many weighty issues. Indeed, I often feel like there is no time to lose!
The Legislature has now passed all of the base budget bills and has begun sorting through all the other bills and requests for appropriations. This week, my colleague from Santa Clara, Rep. Clark, introduced a major health care reform bill that I would like to present to you. I believe this is a very important issue and am supportive of Rep. Clark’s bill. After all, if you haven’t got your health, you haven’t got anything.
Far too many Utahns are without health care coverage, and the costs are continuing to rise at unsustainable rates. If we don’t do something quickly to stop this cost hemorrhage, no one will be able to afford health insurance. This bill, HB 133 Health System Reform, begins a major, multi-year reform by starting a yearlong task force that will look at six steps. I want to emphasize that reform will take several years to implement, but must include cost containment and enhanced access to care and improved quality of care to be true reform. Only a system based on individual accountability and market forces can fix our broken system.
 This year we begin a six-step process that will lay the foundation for reform in future legislative sessions:
1. We must provide patients with information about the cost and quality of the care they receive. Armed with information, they can then act as savvy consumers to make health-care decisions based on value. Tools are being developed this session that will provide consumers, providers and insurers that information.
2. Behavior and lifestyle choices such as smoking, obesity and failure to receive immunizations increase health-care costs. We need to develop public policies that inform and provide incentives for the public to make healthy choices.
3. We must encourage every Utahn to enroll in our existing health-care programs, which are under capacity. Almost half of the uninsured qualify for Medicaid, the Children's Health Insurance Program or the Utah Premium Partnership. CHIP, for example, has the capacity to cover 42,000 children; however, only 32,000 are currently enrolled.
4. The plan's multi-year framework is made up of four sub-elements. We must empower and fund the Governor's Office of Economic Development to develop and implement policies that enable Utahns to purchase insurance coverage with pre-tax dollars. It is imperative that we develop an information portal for sharing cost and quality data, and facilitate insurance company premium payments from multiple sources. The executive and legislative branches must develop and implement a strategic plan and timeline for reform that includes innovative insurance policies incorporating best clinical practices that are portable from job to job. The plan also would maximize pre-tax benefits, and move public employees into the new market as soon as feasible.
5. To build upon existing collaborative efforts, providers and insurers will be asked to contribute in several key ways. For example, by increasing the cutoff line for the definition of "uninsurable," we will reduce the amount of underwriting allowed in small group and individual markets. All the stakeholders must stay at the table for reform to truly take hold.
6. In order for these reforms to take effect, we need to provide an economic incentive. A $14.1 million tax cut for health care has been proposed. This would create a $750 credit per household that would enable families to start changing the way they buy and use health insurance.
This bill is the result of much work between the Governor’s Office, House and Senate. The process has also brought together insurers, health-care providers, advocates, employers and average Utahns. The task-force process will continue to bring all the stakeholders together as we work toward real health-care reform for Utah.
I welcome any questions or comments from you, especially during the legislative session. I can be reached by email at blast@utah.gov or by phone at the Capitol (801) 538-1029. The Legislative Home Page, www.le.utah.gov, features links to proposed bills, live audio and visual feeds of legislative debate and committee meetings and contact information for all members of the Legislature. Check it out during the session to see what I’m up to in Salt Lake City.

---