Utah trumped the national average in the percentage of premiums that employees contributed to their insurance. Utahns paid 23.1 percent of their health-care costs in 2001. In 2005, they paid 25.1 percent, an increase of 8.7 percent.

Nationally, the increase was 3.9 percent, with employees contributing 23.2 percent in 2001 and 24.1 percent in 2005.

When families are asked to pay more of their premiums, "they do without other important things," Hilman said.

To slice down costs of insurance premiums, companies are cutting back on the services covered in policies, Hilman said.

"As a long-term solution for managing costs it's probably unwise, when you have to pay a higher deductible, you end up delaying care that might otherwise be cost-effective care."

Hilman says that the size of groups covered by an insurance plan will need to expand if the government decides to reform health care through the private sector.

"If you look at the states reforming health care like Massachusetts, one of the big changes made is they said, 'We manage risk as one entire community, so all of the risk of illness is spread among the entire population,'" Hilman said. "That's what you have to do to really get underneath the challenges of cost."

In Utah, where the majority of the population is healthy children, a health-care policy of grouping the entire population together would be fairly easy and inexpensive, she said.

"The original purpose of insurance, let's not forget, is to share risk and cost," she said. "We need to get back to that very simple concept."

The Utah Legislature this past winter charged a task force with proposing legislation by November to reform Utah's health-care system, for consideration during the next legislative session.

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E-mail: lhancock@desnews.com