Most rural Utah firms don't offer insurance

The Huntsman administration has been stressing the need for rural Utah companies to offer health insurance to employees. A new survey indicates the severity of the problem.

Fewer than half of rural Utah firms — 52.6 percent — offer a health insurance option to their workers, according to a random survey of 500 rural Utah businesses conducted by Information Connections, a Utah "Smart Site" in North Logan than specializes in surveys.

Not surprisingly, the problem was more acute with lower-paying companies. Information Connections found that 73.2 percent of respondents paying less than $10 an hour do not offer health insurance.

The survey also indicated that 50.2 percent do not offer health insurance to their company officers.

Ed Meyer, director of the Governor's Office of Economic Development's Rural Development Program, said the office will not be promoting health insurance initiatives — that will come through the Legislature with ideas posed by the state health department and insurance commissioner.

"But what we're trying to do is raise awareness of the issues and why this is important to rural Utah and rural businesses," Meyer said.

"Many businesses simply take for granted that there is no way to resolve the issue, but the truth is that in the next two years there will likely be proposals to address the issues of health insurance, in addition to the activities ongoing at the federal level."

Late this year, officials from the state's rural program will visit communities to talk to businesses about various proposals and seek feedback.

"The solutions are very, very complicated, so we'll be getting information on all the solutions out so businesses and consumers can understand what the solutions are and can provide input into what makes the most sense," Meyer said. "We want to be sure we don't impose a solution or develop a solution that doesn't make sense to rural Utah or Utah in general. We want to get them engaged in the issue and believe there is a potential there to help them."

A lack of health insurance and the high costs of coverage have several ramifications, he said. One study found that more than half of all bankruptcies are due to costs associated with a medical crisis, and those bankruptcies affect creditors and others in the community. Uninsured people still receive medical treatment at hospitals, but any unrecovered costs are a financial hit to rural hospitals that often operate at smaller margins than their urban counterparts, he said.