Americans, from the young and invincible to the old and frail, need access to health care for reasons much broader than their actual physical well-being, a local health policy expert said Friday.

"Insurance protects your wealth. It does not protect your health," said Roberta Herzberg, a Utah State University associate professor of political science who specializes in public policy.

An insured population protects the government's wealth, as well. The cost shifts of the uninsured, such as those who seek trauma care at emergency rooms, have a growing impact on state budget, she said.

For too long, policymakers have emphasized the "health" in health insurance, equating having insurance with purchasing health care. For instance, a middle-class woman whose insurance policy doesn't cover regular mammograms simply will not get the potentially life-saving test rather than pay for it herself.

"That's just stupid," Herzberg said. "We need to make people less stupid about health insurance. And that's my goal."

Herzberg spoke over breakfast Friday at the Little America Hotel at part of USU's Sunrise Series. Sponsored by Regence BlueCross BlueShield of Utah, the series attempts to expose Utah community and business leaders to university research on current issues, USU President Stan Albrecht said.

The health care discussion was particularly timely, he said, given the ongoing push by state and federal lawmakers to address the rising number of the uninsured. In Utah, some 12 to 16 percent of the population is without health insurance. Nationally, some 46 million Americans are uninsured.

"I think we all recognize it is a broken system," Albrecht said of the health care system. "And to find a way to fix the broken system, we're going to have to engage everyone."

Scott Ideson, president of Regence BlueCross BlueShield of Utah, agreed. "It is our belief that the system is broken. Too many people lack health care."

The answer is not an easy one, or one that can be fixed with a one-size-fits-all solution, Herzberg said. A single-payer system, for instance, with its mandated coverage and government-defined benefits will bring many people in from the uninsured population, but may result in less comprehensive coverage for those already insured in the private market.

"So just getting people into the system isn't a silver bullet," she said.

Regence has identified two particular pieces of legislation passed this year as improvements to the state's health care system. The first allows for increased transparency of cost and quality data and the second allows Utah insurers to offer increased incentives for participation in things such as wellness programs.

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E-mail: awelling@desnews.com