The program, Utah's Premium Partnership for Health Insurance (UPP), aims to reduce the state's swelling ranks of uninsured by zeroing in on an estimated 45,400 Utah adults who work full time and could be covered by their employer if they could afford it.
Many of these workers are known to insurance companies as "the young invincibles," a relatively healthy population of people earning low starting wages. But UPP also is targeted at low-income families.
Health officials peg Utah's uninsured population at 292,800, though other estimates cite higher numbers. Of that, 59 percent cite the cost of insurance as the reason they lack coverage, according to a state health department survey.
"That's too many," said health director David Sundwall, who touts UPP as a first step toward reaching Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman's goal of halving the state's uninsured population by 2010.
Here's how UPP would work for a single, working mother of two children. She would pay her employer's premium, say $400 a a month, and then get reimbursed by the state $150 for herself and $100 for each child. That brings her monthly out-of-pocket cost to $50, not including co-payments or deductibles for care.
Lawmakers hope the financial incentive is enough to encourage families to enroll. UPP isn't a new program, but a revised version of the Covered at Work incentive unveiled under former Gov. Mike Leavitt.
Once heralded as the best thing to happen to Utah's uninsured, Covered at Work was widely regarded a failure, enrolling fewer than 100 people.
Advocates for the poor say that's because the former premium subsidy of $50 was too low. For two years, they have lobbied the Legislature to increase the subsidy, which is paid by a combination of federal and state Medicaid dollars.
Even UPP has its limitations, however. Enrollment is capped at 1,000 individuals and it is available only to low-income households. A family of three would have to earn no more than between $2,075 and $2,767 a month.
Lawmakers will weigh legislation this winter to expand the program, but are waiting to gauge the level of interest.
