At least 40 health bills on burners

This year's water cooler conversations at the Utah Legislature are about more than taxes, education funding and money for roads.

Mention doctors, patient access, health care costs and consumer choice — the response is passionate and the bills are many.

One lawmaker wants to impose a tax on Intermountain Health Care, another wants to set up a medical residency training program in rural Utah and still another wants to eliminate "non-compete agreements" that he says restrict freedom of movement among providers.

A lawmaker's efforts to make insurance companies come up with an easy-to-read brochure explaining benefits, especially as they relate to cancer coverage, perished quickly.

At least 40 health-related bills have been filed in this session.

Among the most controversial is SB34, which will attempt to have Utah join seven other states with broad "Any Willing Provider" laws.

Its sponsor, Sen. Chris Buttars, R-West Jordan, expects the measure to come up for debate in the Senate early this week, but attempts to attach a huge fiscal note have many fearing its downfall.

Any Willing Provider laws require managed care or other health insurers to allow other existing health providers to be included within covered services — from medical supply companies that provide oxygen tanks for home use to physical therapists or doctors delivering specialized health care, such as obstetrics or radiology.

Utah's proposal would allow residents to go to a non-contract provider for health care or medical products as long as that provider is willing to accept 95 percent of the insurance plan's reimbursement rate.

"We feel that we need to make this fair for all of us and we feel patients ought to be able to go to providers they want to see in locations more convenient for them," said Pimmie Lopez, president of the Utah Medical Group Management Association.

Lopez's group represents medical practice administrators and medical groups throughout the state such as Wee Care Pediatrics in Layton and Ogden Clinic.

"We hear directly from patients when they come in and we feel like we are kind of caught in the middle because we're not approved by their insurance carrier, but they are willing to pay out-of-pocket to expedite service or see the provider they wish to see," Lopez said.

The stories abound in support of the measure:

• In Lehi, a licensed physical therapist says he has been trying for nine years to get on Intermountain Health Care's panel.

He says he's been repeatedly told there's no need for a physical therapist in Lehi, even though on a daily basis he's sending people out of the community to get help.