While conventional wisdom says such a proposal will be killed by this Congress, Bennett said, the support signaled to him a shift in lawmakers' willingness to consider a new approach to health care.

Though the chances of the Healthy Americans Act becoming federal law may be "less than 50-50," Bennett said Friday at a meeting hosted by the Utah Hospital Association and Utah Hospital and Health Systems, "they're not zero and that's astonishing."

The act - described by Bennett as a marriage between universal health care and market forces - would create a system of coverage provided through private insurance plans. That coverage would be offered through regional insurance exchanges, rather than employers.

Like car insurance, health insurance would be required by law. People would pay their health insurance premiums through their income tax filings, with their premiums subsidized on a sliding scale based on income.

A first step toward universal health insurance coverage, the act, co-sponsored by Bennett and Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., could save thousands of lives a year, according to Utah's Insurance Department.

It would also, over time, eliminate employer-based insurance coverage. Doing so would increase competition among private insurers, making health insurance more comprehensive - and more affordable, the senator said.

An equally important aspect of the act, Bennett said, is the way in which it promotes personal responsibility and prevention by offering rebates on premiums to those who stay out of the doctor's office.

It's all about putting the "health" back in "health care," the senator said.

"The whole system we have is geared toward acute care - it doesn't kick in until someone gets sick," he said.

The catch-all plan, Bennett said, would cover about 45 million uninsured Americans - including nearly 300,000 adults and children in Utah. He also believes it would drive down spiraling health care costs, which now account for about 16 percent of the country's gross domestic product.

"There's a lot of room for a lot of change in the way we do health care in this country," Bennett said.

lrosetta@sltrib.com