Salt Lake Chamber makes the issue its top legislative priority for '08

The Salt Lake Area Chamber of Commerce is on board with health-care reform proposed by legislators and the governor's office.

With this year's legislative session just 10 days away, health-care reform is the top legislative priority of the chamber, its leadership said Thursday at a news conference. The number of private-sector employers offering health benefits declined from 54.8 percent in 1996 to 44.1 percent in 2005, according to data the chamber cited from the Agency for Healthcare Research. Meanwhile, average family premiums per employee at private-sector companies increased from $4,914 in 1996 to $10,282 in 2005.

"The system is broken," said Scott Hymas, chairman of the chamber's Board of Governors. "What has happened in the last 10 years cannot be sustained."

Health-insurance premiums are increasing faster than wages, and Utahns are having trouble keeping up. Many of the state's residents lack insurance and receive free or subsidized care, but the cost is passed along to insurance holders, Hymas said.

The chamber supports proposals of Rep. Dave Clark, R-Santa Clara, and Sen. Sheldon Killpack, R-Syracuse, which are in line with ideas of Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. to "contain costs, enhance access and improve quality," Clark has said.

The chamber hopes the Legislature will pass bills to begin a multi-year health-care reform effort in Utah that includes requiring all Utahns to have health insurance, creating policies that can transfer from job to job, educating Utahns on enrolling in current programs and enabling Utahns to purchase insur-

ance with pre-tax dollars.

The chamber wants health-care companies to increase the cutoff line for the definition of "uninsurable," and the government to increase funding of programs that promise healthy lifestyles. The chamber also hopes for changes in the system to ensure medical records can be electronically and accurately transferred from clinic to clinic.

The chamber is hoping for some help with its "Downtown Rising" redevelopment plan of new commercial and residential space downtown. The chamber specifically would like money to restore the old Utah Theatre on Main Street, turning it into a film center.

"There will be some bills, and we would be supportive of that," chamber President Lane Beattie said.