That includes meeting your children's medical needs, something Karen Brailsford wasn't confident she could do - until recently.

The mother of five is among a small number of Utahns taking advantage of an experiment to help the working poor buy health insurance. Utah's Premium Partnership for Health (UPP) encourages low-wage workers to enroll in their employer's insurance plan by offering a monthly rebate to help pay the premiums.

Successful in other states, the year-old program has been a "life saver" for Brailsford. But it hasn't proved very popular.

Despite a $155,000 marketing campaign, only 190 of 1,000 slots are filled.

That's better than the old version of UPP, called Covered at Work, which carried a smaller rebate and drew fewer than 50 enrollees. Lawmakers retooled the program and increased the subsidy, hoping to lure families.

Under UPP, the Brailsford family of seven qualifies for $370 each month. Brailsford says the money covers most of her husband's share of his employer's premium.

Her husband works at a bottling company, earning too much to qualify for Medicaid but not enough to afford insurance for the whole family.

"Before we had insurance, we never went to the doctor, unless it was an emergency, and then we couldn't afford it," said the 38-year-old mother.

Brailsford never dreamed that access to health care would rate among her top worries. "It's not something you think about growing up," she said.

Nor did she think she would ever wind up applying for government aid. She learned about UPP while trying to enroll her children in the state Children's Health Insurance Program. Her caseworker told her she was a better candidate for UPP.

"It actually worked in our favor. I like UPP because it gives you that independence of providing your own insurance and not depending on the state," said Brailsford. "It also gives us more choice in the coverage that we want."

Utah Health Director David Sundwall views UPP as critical to reducing the state's 300,000 uninsured, many of whom qualify for coverage through their employers but can't afford it.

There are currently no plans to expand UPP. But the program, or something like it, could play a key role in an effort to insure all citizens, under a plan brainstormed by business leaders and endorsed by top advisers to Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr.

Details are still emerging, but the plan is pitched by the Salt Lake Chamber of Commerce as the tactic that will prevent socialized medicine.

UPP supports the current free-market system, because the rebate benefits workers, employers and private insurance companies, the thinking goes.

"It's the right thing to do, but it's not enough," said Natalie Gochnour, the chamber's vice president of policy research and communication.

Advocates for the poor support pairing UPP with other reforms. In the meantime, they say, it could be easily improved by mirroring other states' programs.

Rhode Island, for example, structures its rebate so that the burden falls to the employer to collect the money, not the employee, said Judi Hilman, director of the Utah Health Policy Project.

"You don't want the employee to cover their part of the premium and be reimbursed. They don't have the pocket change," she said.

The health department is working with local chambers to promote UPP, and launched TV and radio ads this week.

"We're hoping to get the word out to employers and new hires," said Kolbi Young, department spokeswoman. "One of the Catch-22s is you have to have insurance at your job to enroll. But you have to apply during open enrollment, before the date that your health coverage begins."

kstewart@sltrib.com

Insurance aid

Utah's Premium Partnership for Health encourages low-wage workers to join employer insurance plans.

* Workers enroll, and pay the premiums themselves.

* The program reimburses them based on the number of family members, typically $150 per adult and less for children.

* To learn more and see if you qualify, visit www.health.utah.gov/upp or call 1-888-222-2542.