That's because IHC provided $67 million in charitable care, representing 147,000 cases, last year.

Concerned about the health care giant's monopolistic hold and aggressive billing practices, legislators created a task force to examine IHC over the next two years.

On Thursday, at its second meeting, Judi Hilman of Utah Issues and Joseph Jarvis of the Utah Health Alliance said IHC is keeping medical costs down for Utahns because of its large risk pool of customers.

"IHC has and will be a critical part of delivering health care to the uninsured," Hilman said. "The beauty of insurance is to spread the risk as widely as possible. Unfortunately, the freer the market in health care, the higher the costs for everyone."

She argued that IHC's size, with 19 of Utah's 56 hospitals, plus 15 clinics, is not a problem. In fact, she said IHC could stand to be larger so it could provide more charity care.

In Utah, 10 percent of the population, or about 250,000 residents, has no insurance. Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. recently drew together his own group to develop a plan to provide health insurance to every state resident.

The group will hold public meetings throughout the state, from July through October, to gather comments and suggestions on how to bridge the insurance gap. Members include David Sundwall, executive director of the Utah Department of Health, and Kent Michie, commissioner of the Utah Insurance Department.

Rep. Patricia Jones, D-Holladay, wanted to know Thursday where Utah's uninsured population goes for medical treatment and who ends up footing their bills.

Hilman recommended that the task force spend $50,000 of its $300,000 budget to hire the Lewin Group, a Virginia health care consulting company, to study those questions.

Jarvis asserted that although "the task force was created out of some frustration with" IHC, forcing the company to pay taxes and become a for-profit entity probably would lead to poorer-quality medical services.

"Investor-owned health plans often provide less preventive care" and are driven more by profits than by concern for patients, he said. They also have higher mortality rates, he contended.

He cited the health care system in Nevada, which is dominated by for-profit companies.

"Intensely competitive investor-owned companies deliver lower quality care at higher costs," he said. "I'm sure investor-owned corporations would grab up more hospitals in Utah, but IHC has blocked that."

IHC officials said that average inpatient charges at non-IHC hospitals in Utah are 19 percent higher than at IHC facilities. They also claim that average outpatient surgery charges at non-IHC facilities are 53 percent higher.

Supporters of taxing IHC or breaking it up attended but did not speak at Thursday's meeting. The next meeting is scheduled for June 23.