Leaders of the Utah House want to increase teacher salaries, build the Mountain View Corridor and boost enrollment in the Utah Children's Health Insurance Program.

After a morning of ceremonial speeches opening the 2008 legislative session, House leaders held a press conference to outline those priorities for passing bills during the next 45 days. Speaker Greg Curtis, R-Sandy, said he felt confident his team had the consensus to pass legislation dealing with those issues.

Regarding the joint state and federal children's insurance plan — offered in each state nationwide to children whose parents are working but do not have medical insurance — Curtis made a twofold promise to meet the funding needs as well as eliminate the enrollment cap.

About 32,000 children are currently covered by CHIP. Enrollment has been closed almost as often as it has been open the past five years.

Enrollment was closed in September 2006 and reopened this past July when $2 million in ongoing funds and $2 million in one-time funds were approved by the 2007 Legislature, enough to increase total enrollment to between 45,000 and 48,000 children.

CHIP funding has been an ongoing problem in Utah, and news that the House leadership is committing to the insurance plan is welcome news and a wise first step in the state's health-care reform efforts, advocates said Monday.

They point out that there are about 90,000 uninsured children in Utah, 70 percent of which are likely eligible for either Medicaid coverage or CHIP.

"I applaud the effort being made to improve health-care coverage and access," said Karen Crompton, executive director of Voices for Utah Children, the state's leading child welfare advocacy group. "Solutions have to be found, and one of them is sitting right in front of us for most kids."

No special legislation is needed and no new programs have to be started or studied, she said. "CHIP is a known quantity, is popular among the public and with most congressional representatives, is the wisest, most beneficial use of tax dollars and is the most immediate step toward improving health care in Utah."

One element of the health care reform effort , under way in earnest the past two years and distilled into a general multi-step, multi-year proposal for lawmakers this session (HB133), appears to be at cross purposes with the leadership goals announced Monday: One provision in the bill would prohibit children from being enrolled in CHIP if their parents are enrolled in Utah's Premium Partnership of Health Insurance (UPP).

"We'd like to see that provision completely removed," Crompton said. "At minimum, HB133 should be amended to ensure that children receive equal benefits and that subsidizing private coverage is not more expensive than providing coverage through Medicaid or CHIP. There's no guarantee of either at this point."