The Health System Reform Bill of Rights, signed by a cross section of leaders who together employ about 400,000 people, will be unveiled today by the Salt Lake Chamber of Commerce in a Capitol Hill news conference.

The three-page plan calls for increasing accountability, eliminating waste, transforming incentives and extending compassion.

"This is purely business speaking out," said Natalie Gochnour, the chamber's chief operations officer. The Bill of Rights, which will be given to every lawmaker, will serve as "a guide to . . . the business community's priorities as we work with the Legislature to solve this problem."

Calling the health-care system "outdated and flawed," the state's business sector - which provides health insurance to 1.8 million Utahns, or 79 percent of the insured population - wants every person to have access to affordable, basic insurance.

Such health plans would be both portable and paid for with pretax dollars by the policyholders. And they would be guaranteed issue - which would limit when insurers could reject applicants - with rates based on a broad-based risk pool.

Gochnour said employers would be responsible for making a fixed contribution to their employees as they set up their plans.

Consumers would be emboldened by access to more complete information via an Internet portal with costs of procedures, doctors' success rates, the costs and details of health insurance plans, insurance companies' denial rates "and other information that will support a vibrant health market," the document states.

Business leaders say the current employer-based payment system limits employee choice, leads to expensive policies and stymies entrepreneurship. Individuals - not employers - should assume responsibility for health-care coverage and payment decisions, they contend.

Likewise, individuals should take responsibility for their health and benefits from good lifestyle choices, they add. The initiative, Gochnour said, is endorsed by many of the state's industry trade groups, including the Utah Manufacturers Association and the Utah Restaurant Association.

The Bill of Rights, which has been in the works for months, is, in part, the business community's response to legislators' request for its input.

The chamber has worked with lawmakers and the governor's office to develop a plan that in many ways mirrors the initiatives that the state Health System Reform Task Force is considering.

"This is a process, not an event," said Scott Hymas, chair of the chamber's health-reform task force and CEO of RC Willey. "We're headed in the right direction, the Legislature is headed in the right direction, but it's a process and it's going to take some time."

lrosetta@sltrib.com

What's next

The Salt Lake Chamber of Commerce's plan, along with other ideas for health reform, will be considered by the Legislature's Health System Reform Task Force and potentially crafted into draft legislation.