A newly formed coalition hopes to serve as a liaison between the public and lawmakers studying the state of health care in Utah.

The Utah Healthcare Coalition, according to executive director Jeff Fox, will provide training and technical assistance to individuals testifying before the Privately Owned Health Care Organization Task Force, raise awareness among the public about the ongoing legislative study and provide written and oral testimony on behalf of its members.

"We'll be really oriented toward getting health-care consumers involved and making sure their voices are heard," Fox said.

The coalition has just under 100 members, including individuals and large and small businesses. Fox would not identify those members on Wednesday, nor would he confirm if any of the state's larger health-care providers had accepted his offer to join the coalition.

"I had to guarantee them anonymity because of concern for fear of retribution," he said.

Health care in Utah has become a highly politically charged topic with the formation of the task force during the 2005 legislative session. Although its primary purpose is to study health care issues in Utah, the focus has largely been on the operations of the state's largest health-care network, Intermountain Health Care.

The 15-member task force is the result of a legislative effort to remove IHC's tax-exempt status. The bill, sponsored by Sen. Michael Waddoups, R-Taylorsville, would have levied a 3 percent gross receipts tax against the health-care organization.

Fox said Wednesday that his focus is on making sure each Utahn has access to affordable health care, not singling out any one organization.

"We're not going to be speaking for or against any insurance company or provider," he said. "We're simply going to share our views on how to improve the system."

That said, Fox acknowledged the tension surrounding the task force when declining to identify specific coalition members.

"There are some insurance companies that live or breathe on the whims of IHC and they certainly don't want their names to be used," he said.

IHC spokesman Daron Cowley was unaware of the formation of the Utah Healthcare Coalition when contacted Wednesday.

Fox is a former state legislator, having served three terms in the House of Representatives between 1976 and 1982. Since that time, he said, he has worked with nonprofit organizations in Utah and Idaho that focused on health-care issues.

The task force next meets Monday morning at the State Capitol.

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E-mail: awelling@desnews.com