Apr 06
Utah Introduces Healthcare Premium Subsidies
Utah residents who could have health insurance through their employers but can’t afford their share of the premium have a new opportunity to have the state reimburse them for those costs, due to a program introduced by the Utah Department of Health.
The Utah Premium Partnership for Health Insurance program will reimburse workers $150 per adult and $100 per child for premiums they’ve paid to their employee health plan. There is no limit to the number of family members.
There are 292,800 uninsured people in Utah, according to a survey released last year by the health department. About sixty percent of those people are uninsured because they can’t afford the insurance that’s available to them.
The program is the result of legislation passed last year to help increase participation in a similar program called ‘Covered at Work.’ That program subsidized workers at a rate of $50 per month for their own premiums only. Family coverage was not available.
Low participation in that program made it clear that the design was inadequate. The new plan uses a small amount of state money combined with federal funds to increase the reimbursement and allow all family members to participate in the same program.
It is essentially a pilot program, as the initial funding level is so low that the number of families the program can help will top out at about one thousand.
To qualify, applicants must not already be covered by health insurance; they must be employed and their employer must offer a health insurance plan where the employer pays at least 50 percent of the premium; and they must meet income guidelines in which the least expensive health care option is more than 5 percent of their total household income before taxes.
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May 31st, 2007 at 11:23 pm
This is an interesting idea in attempting to remove working citizens from the ranks of the uninsured. I think that making this health insurance program available to families is a huge step because it will allow these working families a means to cover previously uninsured children. I hope that Utah\’s expansion of the \”Covered At Work\” program leads to greater utilization of the UPPHI for this reason, especially.
Jerry
http://www.leads4insurance.com