NFIB

There is no shortage of forums, seminars, panels, reports, press conferences, and attention-grabbing events on health care. But for as big an issue health care is, it has been remarkably lacking in providing places where the major stakeholders in the debate could slow down long enough to listen to each other.

It was with that purpose in mind that NFIB/Utah brought all the key participants together on Oct. 25 for a day's opportunity to listen and pause long enough to consider amending their own ideas and incorporating others.

"This was the first opportunity that anyone had to hear all of the groups in one location," said Candace Daly, NFIB/Utah state director and host of the event. "Everyone attending will be contributing ideas on how best to address the swelling number of medically uninsured the minute the next session of the Utah Legislature sits down for business. Thanks to NFIB/Utah's Health-Care Conference, they now know what others will be proposing and how a consensus might be reached much sooner than expected."

Utah and other states have given up waiting for Congress to seriously address the matter of Health Care and are seeking solutions on their own. Whatever positive measures emerge from the next session, it is safe to say they were presented at NFIB's Oct. 25 conference in Sandy. Those showing up to speak and listen were:

• John T. Nielsen and Norm Thurston, representing the Governor's Initiative on the Uninsured and explaining the Utah Health Insurance Exchange
• Lane Beattie, from the Salt Lake Chamber, who also represented a group including the United Way on agreement for forming the Health Insurance Exchange
• Kelly Atkinson from the Utah Health Insurance Association, which represents insurance carriers in the state. He expressed several concerns with the formation of a health-insurance exchange, the first of which was the exit of carriers from the market if the Health Insurance Exchange forced them to participate
• Brad Kunhausen and Luke McDermmot from the Utah Association of Health Underwriters, who said that they would prefer to see insurance paid for in episodes of care versus procedure by procedure
• Judith Hilman, representing the Utah Health Policy Project. She liked was the community rating aspect of the Health Insurance Exchange.
• State Rep. Jim Dunnigan gave an overall review on his ideas for small-group reform. He would like to see a mandate-lite product that could be offered to small groups. Dunnigan was very concerned about a community rating being applied in the small-group market for fear the healthy population would just chose not to be insured.
• Mark Bair, M.D., president of the Utah Medical Association, and Dave Gessell from the Utah Hospital Association gave presentations with the views of their respective associations.

"This was the biggest gathering of the best health-care minds in the state," said Daly. "Our members have run out of patience with soaring health-care premiums and are asking policymakers to provide solutions fast. As small businesses' leading representative organization, I'm proud of our success in providing a substantive first step."

More information about health care can be viewed from the attached slide presentations. Sample coverage of the conference can be read by reading the stories below from the Deseret News and Utah Business Magazine.

Health care industry divided
Utah Leaders Look for Health Care Solution