Humana of Utah is offering small businesses that are members of the Salt Lake Chamber a discount on health-insurance plans.

To qualify, the businesses must have fewer than 100 employees. The discount will average around 2 percent. For a 10-employee group, that would roughly mean the employer would save $1,000 a year for health premiums, said Earl Hurst, president of Humana's Utah commercial operations.

"For a small employer in Utah, that's $1,000 they wouldn't have to pay because of their membership in the Salt Lake Chamber," he said.

Small employers have the option of choosing from different insurance programs Humana offers in Utah, which include plans with high and low deductibles.

Each group would be individually underwritten as they normally would, and the premiums that the employer would normally pay for health insurance are based on factors such as group health, Hurst said.

All employers are struggling with the rising prices of health insurance. Hurst notes that it is the highest cost for a business after salaries, and sometimes is higher than salaries. Large employee groups can absorb health costs for people who are sick because the cost is distributed among the large group, a luxury small businesses don't necessarily have.

Small businesses also sometimes pay more for insurance if the health of the group is questionable.

"What you have are essentially insurance companies that rate you as a group," said Natalie Gochnour, chief operating officer of the Salt Lake Chamber. "There tends to be a lot more variation in the premium price, depending on the health of the small group."

The percentage of Utah companies offering health insurance has dropped from 57 percent in 1998 to 44 percent in 2005, "and a big part of that has been small businesses," Gochnour said.

Humana is also offering insurance discounts with chambers of commerce in a handful of other U.S. cities, including Cincinnati, Memphis and Phoenix.

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E-mail: lhancock@desnews.com