Originated from Statehousecall.org
By Grace-Marie Turner
Categories: Utah
The State of Utah has created a health exchange to facilitate access to health insurance for small business employees, proving that 1) state flexibility is vital in health reform, and 2) that we absolutely, positively don’t need the new federal “public plan” that Speaker Pelosi continues to demand.
Several of us from the Washington policy community, including Merrill Matthews, Jim Capretta, and me, were invited to Salt Lake City to speak at a conference yesterday about the Utah Health Exchange — the brainchild of House Speaker David Clark who was a driving force in creating it.
The exchange is run by just two (that’s right, two) Utah officials, with almost no new taxpayer money. It is basically an Internet-based “switching station” that allows employers to offer a defined contribution for health insurance to their workers. Employees can then use the money to choose from a range of private coverage options, from HSAs to HMOs, which they can purchase with pre-tax dollars and combine with money from a spouse’s employer or other funds. Newly inaugurated Gov. Gary Herbert spoke at the conference in praise of the program.
My big fear is that innovative ideas like this would be annihilated by the heavy-handed, top-down, legislative monstrosity making its way through Congress. The Utah exchange is a market-based solution to help small businesses offer more affordable health insurance, and public and private officials have been working together for several years to get it right. The nuances and complexities of developing this program are significant and take into account the resources and challenges unique to Utah. There is absolutely no way Washington could come up with this.
Tags: David Clark, Jim Capretta, Merrill Matthews, Nancy Pelosi, Utah
