The ranks of Utah's uninsured grew by 1 percent between 2004 and 2005, according to a recently released report from the Utah Department of Health.

And although 1 percent may not sound like much, it still represents more than 40,000 people without health insurance, said Dr. David Sundwall, executive director of the health department.

The increase, according to the report, "illustrates an overall trend over the past few years toward a higher proportion of the population lacking any kind of health insurance coverage." Nationwide, 46 million Americans, including 8 million children, have no health insurance.

In Utah, nearly 300,000 people are uninsured, according to the health department. That number caused Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. to establish a working group, with Sundwall as co-chairman, to "find out the extent of the problems and what will work in Utah to address the issue" of uninsured residents.

According to the 2005 Utah Health Status Survey, the Utahns most likely to go without health insurance fall within four categories: young adults age 19 to 26, those with household incomes at or below 200 percent of the poverty level, adults without a high school diploma and Utahns of Hispanic ethnicity.

Close to 80 percent of Utahns with health insurance get it through their current or former employers, the survey states, while a combined 25 percent receive insurance through government-sponsored programs. It also notes, however, that the rolls of these programs — Medicaid, Medicare and the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) — have been growing while employer-offered insurance is decreasing.

Uninsured people are more likely to skip routine medical care and instead take advantage of more expensive emergency or urgent care centers, according to the survey.

---

E-mail: awelling@desnews.com