"That task force is working to cover these kids, which is just wonderful," he said. "Pediatricians and parents are going to be very, very happy."

Nearly 70 percent of the nation's 9 million uninsured children, including those in Utah, are eligible for Medicaid or the State Children's Health Insurance Program. For that reason, according to the report, states should do what they can to fund and promote the government-sponsored programs.

"Of all the different groups of people served by these programs, children are the least expensive to cover, and they stand to gain a tremendous amount from obtaining health coverage," the report states.

Until more systemic solutions are found, Medicaid and CHIP remain the best options for Utah parents to insure their children, Hilman said. Unfortunately, she said, open enrollment for Utah's CHIP, which covers about 36,000 children, closed Sept. 1.

"It's a no-brainer that we've got to put more money into our CHIP program for now," she said. "But that still doesn't get us to the underlying reason of folks needing CHIP."

The Utah Health Policy Project is pushing legislation that would allow small businesses to buy into the state's Public Employees Health Plan, which provides health insurance coverage to 180,000 people, mostly state employees and county, city and school district workers. The group believes the move, which legislators rejected earlier this year, would give small-business owners an affordable option for health insurance for their employers.

"You've got lower-income working parents falling off of insurance because they can't afford the premium," Hilman said. "We're trying to get underneath the problem."

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E-mail: awelling@desnews.com