Early Opposition to Insurance Proposals from Gov's Office
None by KCPW
(KCPW News) A proposal from the Governor's top health advisers to mandate that parents provide health insurance for their children is meeting early opposition from lawmakers who would have to approve the plan."I don't think that is going to be acceptable to the caucus," says Senate President John Valentine. "We all care about health insurance for kids, but we've got to do something that makes sense and doesn't leave us in a situation to give false hopes to people that they're going to have insurance when they don't. That's just not what we're gonna do."
Dr. David Sundwall, Director of the Utah Department of Health, announced on Friday that Governor Huntsman's office will focus on providing insurance for the 70,000 children not currently covered. Valentine says lawmakers are more likely to support the second part of Huntsman's plan, which entails making health insurance more affordable to small businesses.
Valentine and House Speaker Greg Curtis have tentatively agreed to create a working group of lawmakers who will look more closely at the issue of Utah's uninsured.
Email to a friendPosted in KCPW Newsroom and Legislative Coverage. Copyright 2008 KCPW
1. stephen p. smith said:
It seems to me the biggest impediment to the availability is the lack of portability which results fom employment-based/sponsored plans. Doing away with this arbitrary "group" definition would allow the under-insured and uninsured more access to adequate coverage at a reasonable price. Unfortunately, this runs counter to the interests of the few large providers in the state.
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