Anderson offered a forum of minority leaders more details about a health-care reform plan backed by Utah business leaders.

Legislation would guide the appointment of an independent commission that would design a bare-minimum health-benefits plan. That plan would be offered by all licensed insurers through an exchange - sort of like a stock exchange - where Utahns could shop using pre-tax dollars and any employer-paid share of premiums.

The measure also would set up a mechanism for health providers to reveal how much they bill for given procedures. And ideally, the reforms wouldn't take effect until July 2009, Anderson said. "It will take time for these groups to get set up."

Anderson spoke at a public hearing gathering input from minority groups on the reform plan, brainstormed by business leaders and backed by top advisers to Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr.

Up until now, public debate has been driven mostly by the health-care industry: insurance companies, hospitals and large companies.

But on Friday, representatives of the Asian, American Indian, Latino, Pacific Islander and refugee communities voiced their concerns. Foremost on their minds: How will the state guarantee that savings are passed on to consumers?

"All this is great, but I want to see numbers," said Ella Dazie of the Indian Walk-In Center. "How do you define affordable?"

Others warned the plan does nothing to improve health disparities.

Studies consistently show poorer health outcomes for ethnic minorities, even among the insured and those with higher incomes, said Luz Robles, representing the Latino community.

Robles said great care should be taken in designing benefits.

Under the proposal, preventive and emergency care would be fully covered with a small co-payment. For so-called "comfort care," such as a hip replacement, patients could pay 20 percent or more of the bill.

But comfort care for people with disabilities can mean the difference between being able to work or not, warned advocates for the disabled.

And if, as proposed, insurance companies impose surcharges on people who make unwise health choices - those who smoke or can't lose weight - low-income communities of color would suffer, said Robles.

"I'm thinking of children bombarded at school with junk food, or who live in a home where the parents don't have ready access to fresh fruits or vegetables," she said.

An estimated 360,000 Utahns are uninsured as employers scale back their coverage and increases in premiums outpace wage growth. Utah's uninsured cost employers and insured workers $1 billion each year in the form of higher premiums, Anderson said.

"Premiums will drop between 17 to 20 percent if we insure everyone," he said.