"There's too much of a 'can't be done' attitude," he said Friday in an interview, "and before that becomes corrosive - and long-term, deleterious to the effort - that's got to be flipped around."

While the governor acknowledges insurers have been willing to talk to lawmakers, he has yet to see the breakthrough of a reasonably priced plan "that I and a lot of other people are looking for."

The task force, created by HB 133, has made it clear that members feel the private market holds the solution for Utah's uninsured. But that only works if people have access to policies they can afford, Huntsman said.

"We're talking about real people who are outside the coverage zone," he said, "and that leaves many without basic health care, which to me is a huge concern."

The task force's chair, Rep. David Clark, R-Santa Clara, said such "push-and-pull sessions" between lawmakers and insurers are necessarily built into the reform process.

"But there are changes where [insurers] are being a little reluctant, and when it comes to the broker and agent community, [they're] a little more entrenched with the status quo," he said.

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Call to action: Huntsman's call to action comes five months after the task force first convened and began wrangling with the three key issues: cost, quality and access.

Insurers say they have made good on their promise to the governor to produce innovative products, including a portable plan called Net Care. It would be available to individuals leaving their employer health plans for up 12 months, to help them transition to new coverage.

Offered at one-third of the price of the average large-group plan, it would be far cheaper than using COBRA, the temporary option to stay on a workplace insurance plan and pay premiums without the usual subsidy from the employer.

It would also be guarantee issue, meaning a person's health history would not be taken into consideration when they apply for coverage.

"What we're trying to do is say, 'How can we do this and still stay afloat?' In Utah, our companies are not making money hand over fist," said Kelly Atkinson, executive director of the Utah Health Insurance Association. "We run a mean, lean machine."

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Other options: Chet Lostis, public policy and government relations manager for Regence BlueCross BlueShield of Utah, said the task force's insurers workgroup is drafting other options.

Insurance companies propose giving them more control over how they organize their provider networks, Lostis said. That move, plus allowing plans that do not meet current mandates - benefits required by the government - would make policies less expensive, he said.

"We all recognize we're under a time crunch and are trying to get things done. We're working hard," he said.

Rep. Jim Dunnigan, R-Taylorsville, chair of the insurers' workgroup, said yet another approach is to tackle not just rising premiums, but the costs that drive them up.

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Greater flexibility: Draft legislation, Dunnigan said, would give insurers greater flexibility to offer incentives to clients to take responsibility for their health. Insurers could lower a person's deductible, for instance, if they quit smoking or lower their cholesterol - a strategy some companies already use.

"The cost of health insurance premiums is largely the shadow of health [care] costs," he said.

In February, before the task force's first meeting, Huntsman said the market needed to be "shook up." He then held out the possibility of mandating Utahns purchase health insurance and limiting when insurers can reject customers if insurance companies didn't offer affordable health plans by the end of the year.

On Friday, however, he stopped short of saying what steps he may take if insurers fail to deliver.

"That's a little bit hypothetical. My sense is we're not going to arrive in November looking like we are today," he said. "We're going to keep moving inexorably toward affordable plans - that's what our goal all along has been."

lrosetta@sltrib.com

There's too much of a 'can't be done' attitude, and before that becomes corrosive - and long term, deleterious to the effort - that's got to be flipped around.

- Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr.

Fifteen Utah health organizations and a state senator are set to unveil a proposal that would boost the state's cigarette tax to $2 a pack and generate nearly $50 million that would be used for health care programs,