The Utah Health Exchange insurance program for small-group employers was opened Thursday to a limited number of bigger employers by state leaders hoping to prove Utah can reform health insurance without federal help.
"We all know that health care is the topic of the day, and in fact it is the topic of the past year," Gov. Gary Herbert said during a news conference to introduce four companies that are joining the Web-based marketplace for health insurance.
"I'm pleased to know at least here in Utah we are not just talking about it. We are actually doing something about it," Herbert said of the program, which has been beset by low participation and unexpectedly high premium costs.
Zions Bank; Provo-based APX Alarm; Health Equity, a Salt Lake City health care financial services firm; and the city of Spanish Fork have agreed to take part in the exchange, launched last August.
Employers will have another insurance option to provide their employees, while the Governor's Office of Consumer Health Services will gain more experience building a state-sponsored health insurance marketplace that could gain wide appeal in Utah.
"We believe that through the exchange, and particularly in this pilot, that not only will it help us as an organization control our costs, which will allow us to be more competitive, but will also help us provide a better package and more options to our employees, so that if the employee wants to go out on their own, they can," Zions Bank CEO Scott Anderson said.
Seth Perrins, assistant city manager of Spanish Fork, said it isn't clear yet whether the exchange will save taxpayers or employees any money. He hopes it does. But if the city discovers otherwise, "we will continue doing what we have been doing," Perrins said.
The exchange has had limited success. Only 400 people are receiving health insurance in its experimental first stage. Some of the 66 plans offered through the exchange are up to 130 percent more expensive than what some companies were already paying.
"It does take time getting it right, and that's what's happening here. Change doesn't come necessarily easily, but it is important that we do it," Herbert said.
The exchange wasn't scheduled to admit large employer groups for pilot testing until late next year. But at the urging of several big employers, Utah House Speaker David Clark included a provision in HB294, a health care reform bill he recently introduced that would authorize the Office of Consumer Health Services to begin a pilot program for them.
"Enlisting a group of large employers in order to ensure that we continue the design system so that it is capable enough and is responsive enough to the needs of Utah employers and their families, that's what this is about," Clark said.
Clark said the pilot program can accommodate a few more businesses.
