For topic specific publications, click on area of interest:
National Reform - Coverage Inititatives - Medicaid/CHIP
Utah Business Group on Health - Quality Watch

National Reform (Click here for past publications.)

National Reforms On Solid Legal Grounds (January 8, 2010)
Utah lawmakers, including Attorney General Mark Shurtleff, have joined with Senator Orrin Hatch to launch a troubling new strategy for defeating national health reform. (Read More)

National Health Reform: Impact on Providers (January 7, 2010)
Health reform is an unavoidable complex undertaking. Yet, as we get closer to implementation, it will be important to grasp how the reforms will impact practical access to care and coverage. We offer this matrix as a tool for the provider community: to make sense of the proposed changes and to help motivate Utah's congressional delegation. (Read More)

Healthcare Reform for Small Businesses - Current Bills (Small Business Majority) Comprehensive healthcare reform must fix the serious problems that small businesses, including the self employed, face in the current healthcare system: skyrocketing costs, unpredictable premiums, lack of access, affordability, choice, and administrative inconvenience. (Read More)


Coverage Inititatives (Click here for past publications.)

Cost Containment in the Senate Leadership Bill (December 16, 2009)
As Congress moves forward with health reform legislation, the idea of “cost containment” or slowing the growth of healthcare costs has become a hot button issue for many inside and outside the process. At its core, the concern is that most of the cost containment measures focus on the public programs (Medicare and Medicaid) and do little to change the overall cost structure of the healthcare system. Currently, health care providers are paid a fee for every service they perform. (Read More)

Strengthening Utah's Health Insurance Exchange (November 17, 2009)
Utah began its health reform discussions in 2007, passing the first in a series of insurance reform bills during the 2008 General Session. House Bill 133 (Health System Reform) created a web-based portal or “Exchange” where employers and consumers can shop for affordable, quality insurance. During the 2009 General Session additional parameters were created around the Exchange with the passage of HB188 (Health System Reform-Insurance Market), meaning that Utah is second only to Massachusetts in creating this type of virtual store-front. (Read More)

The Case for Affordable Health Care: Financial Security & Peace of Mind for Utah Families (July 16, 2009)
By now, we have all either experienced or heard the horror stories of the uninsured and under-insured: Everyone agrees the health system is broken, and now is the time to put aside party politics and fix it. (Read More)

Medicaid/CHIP (Click here for past publications.)

Invest in Cost Avoidance Restore Medicaid Optional Services (November 18, 2009)
The so called “Medicaid optional services (dental care, physical therapy, occupational therapy, vision care, and audiology) have all been eliminated or are scheduled to be eliminated by the end of fiscal year 2010.  (Read More)

Medicaid Cost Management Navigator Special 2009-10 Edition (November 2, 2009)
UHPP has prepared the 2009-2010 edition of the Medicaid Cost Management Navigator to help policymakers understand the current state of Utah's Medicaid program, where cuts have occurred during the recession, and how the program arrived at the need for $60 million in additional funding for FY2011. (Read More)

Remove Utah's Medicaid Asset Test (October 10, 2009)
Medicaid is a means-based entitlement program designed to provide health coverage to low-income children, parents and people with disabilities. Unlike many states, Utah uses two criteria to determine a family’s financial means: income and assets. (Read More)

Utah Business Group on Health (UBGH) (Click here for past publications.)

Small Business Reforms from Merged Senate Health Reform Bill (November 20, 2009)
A breakdown of the merged Senate bill, what the reforms will look like 2010-2014. (Read More)

The House Proposal Lowers Non-Group Premiums (Jonathan Gruber, MIT)
The House proposal issued today provides premium assistance and market reforms which will make health insurance much more affordable for individuals facing purchase in the non-group market. (Read More)

Expanding the Risk Adjuster: Managing Risk to Stabilize the Small Group Market (September 16, 2009)
Enacted in 2009, HB188 (Health System Reform – Insurance Market) created a new defined contribution market, a cornerstone of Utah’s health system reforms. To stabilize costs and ensure the long term sustainability of the new market HB188 also created a risk adjuster to spread risk more efficiently across all insurers. (Read More)

Utah Quality Watch(Click here for past publications.)

MHN Portion of Draft Integrated Blueprint for Reducing Health Disparities
(December 15, 2009)
(Read More)

Health Equity Priorities for the 2010 Session of the Utah Legislature: An MHN Publication (November 17, 2009)
Utah is the 4th most rapidly diversifying state in the nation. Yet, health access disparities may be more pronounced in states like Utah, and this may be because health delivery systems have been designed to serve the state’s historically homogeneous populations. These funding and policy priorities are designed to maximize opportunities within reforms and beyond to reduce disparities and improve the health of Utah ethnic minorities. (Read More)

Fight the Flu (November 5, 2009)
Flu season has begun and while we are now right in the middle of an historic movement to pass reforms that ensure every Utahn has access to quality, affordable health care, we must also take precautions to stay healthy. (Read More)