2009-2010 PRIORITIES

Utah Business Group on Health (UBGH)

The Utah Business Group on Health (UBGH) is an emerging alliance of Utah small business owners and associations dedicated to comprehensive health reforms. Participants believe health system reform starts with small business owners and their employees because our economic vitality increasingly depends on small businesses' ability to provide affordable health care coverage. 

To lend scientific legitimacy to the cause, UBGH joined efforts with the Small Business Majority to sponsor a survey of 300 randomly selected small businesses in Utah. The results provide specificity to what has become a painful fact: Utah’s small businesses are struggling to afford health care coverage. Because they lack the buying power of big employers, they msut pay more for health benefits than they can handle. A full report of the survey results can be found here, and UHPP's summary can be found here.

As the national health reform debate continues in Congress the UBGH will host conference calls and provide information to small businesses owners on what the reforms mean for their businesses. 

To further the interests of small businesses in the reform discussions, UBGH will be focused on:

•  Utilizing the small business health coverage survey results to stimulate reform efforts;

•  Working with the business community, the Governor's Office of Economic Development, and others to create affordable health care coverage solutions for small businesses;

•  Making sure small businesses have a voice in the reform process through the Small Business Owners Speak Up Storybank and interactive forums with local Chambers of Commerce.

Publications on Utah Business Group in Health

• Small Business Call (December 11, 2009)
• The Senate Bill Lowers Non-Group Premiums: Updated for New
  (Jonathan Gruber, MIT)
• Gruber Testimony on Small Business Provisions in Health Reform
  (Jonathan Gruber, MIT)
• Small Business Reforms from Merged Senate Health Reform Bill
  (November 20, 2009)
  
• The House Proposal Lowers Non-Group Premiums (Jonathan Gruber, MIT)
• UBGH Conference Call (October 16, 2009)
• Healthcare Reform for Small Businesses - Current Bills (Small Business Majority)
• Healthcare Reform Will Help Utah's Small Businesses (Small Business Majority)
• Health Policy Brief: Shared Responsibility (Robert Wood Johnson Foundation)
• Expanding the Risk Adjuster: Managing Risk to Stabilize the Small Group Market (September 16, 2009)
• They Keystone of National Health Reform: How Reforms will Impact Utah Small Businesses (August 26, 2009)
• Health Reform and Your Small Business: National Reforms Impact on Business & What You Can Do (August 5, 2009))
• Health Reform is Key to Economic Recovery: Small Business Survey Summary (July 14, 2009)
• Utah Small Business Health Care Survey (July 8, 2009)
• Small Business Majority Newsletter (May 5, 2009)