HB133, which cleared the House and Senate on Tuesday, would call on the task force to make decisions on 16 "action items" by November, including how to create better, cheaper private health-insurance plans and get more people on government coverage.

If signed by the governor, the measure also would create tax credits worth $18 million for people who buy their own health insurance.

The bill, sponsored by Rep. David Clark, R-Santa Clara, also would create an Office of Consumer Health Services, which would collect data to help consumers make better health-care choices.

In an early draft, HB133 would have required every Utahn to have health insurance by 2010 and called for new insurance plans to cover everyone without charging higher premiums based on medical history.

But those ideas met resistance from lawmakers opposed to mandates and insurers who believe health reform first should zero in on wasteful spending, not improved access.

HB364 - an effort to get low-income Utahns enrolled in Medicaid, the Children's Health Insurance Program and the Utah Premium Partnership - won legislative approval. It would provide a marketing budget for the government insurance programs and get schools to help with promotion.

Rejected bills included:

* SB121, which would have made it easier for Utahns to "swing out" of their HMOs or PPOs and see the doctors they want.

* SB74, which would have barred hospitals with more than a quarter of the licensed beds in a county from giving discounts to insurance companies in return for restricting where customers can seek care.

Both bills were sponsored by Sen. Chris Buttars, R-West Jordan, who argued more choice would drive down costs.

HB17 would have allotted $2.5 million to boost cancer screenings for the state's poor and uninsured. While the bill passed both the House and Senate, it didn't get funded this year because of reduced revenue projections, said Michael Siler, director of government relations for the American Cancer Society's Great West Division.

Another bill, HB307, which would have allowed proceeds from a new license plate to support a screening-awareness campaign, failed to move forward.

The society pushed both measures to address Utah's low screening rates.

lrosetta@sltrib.com