Utah Foundation study shows big increases in Utah health insurance premiums

More Utahns are covered by employer-sponsored health plans than in any other state — 61 percent compared to a national average of 49 percent. Premiums for those plans rose by about one-third over a 10-year period from 2006 to 2016. But that increase might have been much larger if employers hadn’t shifted toward high-deductible plans that require employees to assume a larger share of the cost of healthcare.

Those findings are highlighted in a new research report from Utah Foundation, “Paying a Premium: What’s Driving Health Insurance Costs in Utah?” The report is the second in a series on healthcare in Utah by the foundation. Healthcare was named by Utah voters as their top concern in the 2016 Utah Priorities Project. 

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“In addition to increases in the employer-sponsored market, premiums on the federally sponsored online marketplace have also increased dramatically,” said Sam Brucker, the principal author of the report and Utah Foundation research analyst. “But most families in Utah are still able to get coverage at or below the benchmark for affordability, which is 10 percent of household income.” 

Key findings of the report include:

                • About 61 percent of Utahns purchase health insurance through employers. This is the highest in the nation and significantly higher than the U.S. average of 49 percent.

                • Enrollment in high-deductible plans in Utah has increased from 3 percent to 30 percent during the past decade.

                • The average total premium for an employer-sponsored individual plan in Utah increased by an inflation-adjusted 34 percent from 2006 to 2016, and 30 percent for a family plan.

                • Despite significant increases in premiums since 2006 in the employer-sponsored market, the increases are modest compared to the increases in the late 1990s and early 2000s. The average deductible for individual and family employer-sponsored plans in Utah both nearly doubled from 2006-2016.

                • On average, premiums for both individuals and families with employer-sponsored health insurance in Utah remain below a broadly accepted affordability benchmark of 10 percent of median income.

                • The benchmark silver plan on the federal Marketplace in Salt Lake County increased 62 percent from 2017 to 2018, in part to compensate for the loss of federal cost-sharing reduction subsidies in the Marketplace.

                • Half of Utah Medicare beneficiaries are low- to moderate-income, but do not qualify for Medicaid, potentially leaving them with high medical cost burdens.

                • In recent years, the key factors increasing insurance premiums nationally include: the rising cost of healthcare, increased risk in the health insurance pool, the loss of federal subsidies, uncertainty in national healthcare policy and consolidation in the insurance industry.

The report can be found on the Utah Foundation website, utahfoundation.org, along with the Utah Priorities Project and the first installment of the Utah Health Cost series.

The Utah Foundation is a non-partisan public policy research group that was founded in 1945. Its stated mission is to promote a thriving economy, a well-prepared workforce and a high quality of life for Utahns by performing thorough, well-supported research that helps policymakers, business and community leaders, and citizens better understand complex issues and providing practical, well-reasoned recommendations for policy change.

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