Thursday, February 14, 2008

State Watch

Utah Gov. Huntsman Willing To Impose Mandates if Insurers Do Not Offer More Affordable Plans

      In an interview on Tuesday, Utah Gov. John Huntsman (R) said that if health insurers do not offer plans that more state residents can afford by the end of the year, he will consider implementing an individual coverage mandate, the Salt Lake Tribune reports. His statement comes after the state House last week unanimously approved legislation (HB133) that would establish a legislative task force to develop a plan to overhaul the state's health system by November (May/Rosetta, Salt Lake Tribune, 2/13). In developing the proposal, state lawmakers would consider allowing insurers to offer portable health coverage that workers would carry with them to different employers, exempting some plans from certain state regulations and providing a minimum level of coverage at a less-costly price than current plans (May, Salt Lake Tribune, 2/9).

Huntsman on Tuesday said, "I'm very willing to let this year play out to see where we find ourselves in a year," adding, "If that doesn't work, then I think we're looking very realistically at an individual mandate in getting us to where I think we need to be." He added, "We need to do it now ... or else you're going to have to do it in large part based upon whatever comes to you from the federal level."

The task force bill is "virtually certain to pass the Senate." In addition, Huntsman expects that by the end of the year, the state will be working toward enrolling half of the 306,000 uninsured people who qualify for Medicaid or other subsidized programs, according to the Tribune. The state House on Tuesday also approved legislation that would eliminate enrollment caps on SCHIP and enrollment blackout periods (Salt Lake Tribune, 2/13).