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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- More than 7,000 workers along the Wasatch Front who don't have health insurance through their employers are turning to taxpayer-supported programs, according to a new analysis.
Low-wage workers in Weber, Davis, Salt Lake and Utah counties accounted for an estimated $42 million in public health care subsidies in 2004, according to an analysis by The Salt Lake Tribune of Utah Department of Health records.
The employees work for a diverse group of employers, ranging from corporate giants such as Wal-Mart, Convergys Corp. and McDonalds to nonprofits such public schools, universities and churches.
There are 250,000 Medicaid consumers in Utah, and the analysis focused on those living in the four counties.
This year, Utah will spend more than $1.5 billion on Medicaid, with the federal government paying more than $1 billion of the total.
Last month, Maryland became the first state to mandate that large employers, those with 10,000 workers or more, spend at least 8 percent of their payroll on health care or contribute to a state fund. Other states have ordered the public disclosure of large employers whose workers receive government-paid health care.
In Utah, Wal-Mart has the most workers of any company in the four-county region with workers who qualify for assistance, with 234 workers getting Medicaid or related coverage through the Primary Care Network and Children's Health Insurance Program.
Convergys Corp., with 8,000 workers at Utah call centers, had the second-highest total, at 181 employees. Other large Utah employers benefiting from state-funded insurance include Intermountain Health Care, the University of Utah and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Businesses with high totals were concentrated mostly in retailers, fast-food chains, call centers and temporary employment agencies.
"I'm tired of seeing businesses getting state, county and municipal tax breaks and then telling their workers, 'You can go here and get Medicaid, food stamps and free child care,"' said Sen. Ed Mayne, D-West Valley City.
Mayne is sponsoring legislation he says would make private insurance more affordable -- increasing the state's minimum wage from the current federal $5.15 to $7 an hour.
Wages at many large businesses, including Wal-Mart, already start above minimum wage. But Mayne said the change would be a "first step" toward helping the uninsured afford private coverage.
Republican lawmakers and Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. have agreed not to debate a minimum wage measure this year. Huntsman instead appointed homeless advocate Pamela Atkinson to investigate.
Utah's enrollment in Medicaid, a health safety net for the disabled, low-income children and their parents, pregnant mothers and seniors, is flattening out as the economy improves. But from 2001 to 2005, it grew 52 percent. The average annual cost for each Utah resident on Medicaid is $5,838.
Wal-Mart has no shortage of critics of its methods for controlling benefit costs. But company spokesman Dan Fogleman said Wal-Mart is unfairly targeted. Wal-Mart has the most workers on Medicaid in Utah and in other states because of its sheer size, he said.
"It's a numbers game. This isn't about just one company. This is about a health care crisis in America. We're doing what we can to try and make coverage affordable," Fogleman said.
To answer its critics, Wal-Mart announced a plan this fall to allow some employees to buy insurance for $11 a month.
Fogleman said in Utah, full-and part-time employees have access to plans that charge $23 a month. Family coverage starts at $65. Wal-Mart's ranks of company-insured now stand at 47 percent, Fogleman said.
Two of Utah's Top 10 employers, Hill Air Force Base and Skywest Airlines, have zero Wasatch Front workers on state-funded insurance, according to Health Department records.
The state's largest, IHC, has 26,000 employees, but only 48 workers on Medicaid. About 85 percent of the hospital chain's workforce are "benefits eligible," with 81 percent of those taking advantage of company plans, said Jeff Lowder, assistant vice president for human resources.
Only a third of the IHC staff is part-time, whereas Wal-Mart and call centers Convergys and Teleperformance USA hire many part-time senior citizens, college students and second wage-earners.
Few of Convergys's part-timers opt for company insurance, though it is offered to all employees. Bare bones coverage is available for as low as $9.16 a month.
"We're doing every bit as much as we can, and then some, other than to say it's free; and that's not going to happen," said Lynn Peterson, Convergys benefits director.
No large private employers contacted by The Tribune would disclose what percentage of their payroll is spent on health benefits.
University of Utah officials say the university spends 7 percent, while Alpine School District spends 21 percent. But schools also have Medicaid-eligible workers. Alpine (with 59), Granite (24), Jordan (25) and Nebo (25) school districts have workers drawing on Medicaid. So do the University of Utah (38), Weber State University (14), Utah Valley State College (16), and other public entities, including state government (29) and Internal Revenue Service center in Ogden (30).
"That tells you what people are earning," said Utah Board of Education attorney Carol Lear.
Lear said schools and colleges offer rich health plans with low or no premiums, which they leverage against low wages to retain teachers. But the schools can't afford to also cover their bus drivers, custodial staff and lunchroom workers. Alpine, for example, only offers paid insurance to full-time staff, about 3,561 of its 6,054 employees.
Alpine School District Accountant Jim Hansen said the district spent $35.5 million on health care benefits last year. Part-timers can buy insurance through the district. Only 15 did last year, probably because the plan providing the most comprehensive coverage costs $345 a month for one person or $1,094 for a family.
Brigham Young University, which is owned by the Mormon church, has 51 workers on Medicaid, mostly between the ages of 19 and 26. BYU officials say they place upward of 10,000 students in campus jobs each year. The church's chain of thrift stores, Deseret Industries, employs large numbers of disabled Utah residents and has 74 workers on Medicaid.
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Information from: The Salt Lake Tribune, http://www.sltrib.com
(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
