Articles
9 February 2012

Utah Health Exchange Opens Today to All Small Employers

by PR or News Wire

09 February 2012—

 September 2, 2010

Qualifying Utah small businesses now have a new option to offer expanded health coverage to their employees while controlling their own health benefit costs.

In a significant step forward, the Utah Health Exchange, which has operated as a pilot program for the past year, is now open to all employer groups with two to 50 individuals.

“This is a huge success for the Utah Health Exchange, which is quickly becoming a model for the rest of the nation when it comes to health care reform,” Governor Gary R. Herbert said. “In Utah, we have moved forward with our own innovative reform without the one-size-fits-all restraints being imposed on us by the federal government. Utah has a thriving small business community, and this will help leverage the power of that community to expand insurance coverage and choice throughout the State.”

Employees of participating Utah businesses can now use the Exchange to “shop” for health insurance policies that best fit their individual needs. Rather than having one or two options that are pre-selected for them by their employers, workers can choose from more than 60 different plans from four of Utah’s largest insurance companies: Humana, Regence, Select Health and United Healthcare.

For employers, the Exchange offers access to Utah’s new defined contribution insurance market.  With defined contribution, employers simply decide how much money to contribute toward their employees’ health benefit. That defined contribution is then automatically included in the premium calculation as employees shop for plans in the Exchange.

Defined contribution allows businesses to predict and contain benefit costs from year-to-year, and, for employees, is portable between qualified, registered employers. The Exchange also allows both employers and employees to retain the pre-tax advantages of traditional small group plans.

By state statute, all plans offered through the Utah Health Exchange must meet federal standards for employer-sponsored coverage. This ensures that all plans offered through the Exchange will provide quality coverage from responsible carriers. It is also expected that the element of consumer choice – employees selecting their plans directly from carriers – will put downward pressure on prices and upward pressure on coverage quality.

“The Exchange is a critical component in moving toward a patient-centric, consumer-based system that empowers the consumer and helps to reduce costs and improve quality,” said Spencer Eccles, executive director of the Governor’s Office of Economic Development, which manages the Utah Health Exchange.


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