- A survey by the One Utah Health Collaborative reveals one-third of Utahns delayed care due to costs.
- The collaborative is a group of health care organization leaders working together to improve costs and quality of health care.
- At a webinar, members of the collaborative talked about the struggles employers and patients have as cost increases.
SALT LAKE CITY — For many Utah households, a $1,000 medical bill would be a financial burden.
Sri Bose, director of research for the One Utah Health Collaborative, said for bills over $1,000, people will start borrowing money, delaying care or sacrificing basic needs. She said roughly one-third of Utahns report delaying care because of its cost, and one-fourth of Utahns report incurring medical debt.
"It is not a theoretical concern any more, it is real," she said.
Although 60% of Utahns have employer or private insurance, the survey shows 61% of Utahns still pay entirely out of pocket for prescriptions, medications, medical supplies, behavioral health, dental care or vision care, she said. When you remove dental and vision, it is still 46% of Utahns who pay entirely out of pocket for at least one health care expense.
"People may be covered, but they're not shielded," Bose said.
Bose shared these statistics from a survey of 1,000 Utahns, which she said shows they are using health care constantly but still have low confidence in the system. This survey was discussed by health care leaders in Utah during a webinar on Wednesday.
She said only 6 in 10 Utahns say they trust the health care system, and those who use it more trust it even less. She said the survey showed people mostly trust their doctors, but not insurers or hospitals.
And it's not getting better. Bose said employees and worker premiums have increased 21% in the last four years, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation, putting both employees and employees under pressure.
Employers' costs are rising
Chet Loftus, managing director of PEHP Health & Benefits, said it can be easy to lose track of how much money goes into the health care system, and how much it increases each year. For example, he said Utah has 62,000 people the state provides health insurance for, including employees and their families, which costs $416 million.
Typically, he said each year sees about a 5% increase, but this year it is an 11.8% increase — which amounts to about $50 million.
"As the base of health care continues to grow, as the amount of money that's going to the health care system grows, it's compounding at a rate that's really challenging," he said.
Loftus said employers either reduce benefits or find some way to fund the same level of care, sometimes causing employees to pay a higher percentage.
Dan Nelson, CEO of GBS benefits, which purchases benefits for employers of about half a million Utahns, said health care is purchased differently than anything else.
He said his company is seeing even smaller employers decide to self insure because it gives them more of an ability to impact the cost looking specifically at the health issues their employees face. Nelson said he is constantly asked by employers how they can make providing health care possible and said people are reaching a breaking point.
"We live in a great state with low regulatory barriers, and we think it's a very favorable environment. If there's a state in the union that can positively impact this, create the right environment for good competition, for good quality care, for high-access care at affordable rates — we think we can do it," he said.
He said it has been fun to watch the framing change as the collaborative has begun; he said health care organizations have stopped talking about the fact that the system is broken and instead have a focus on what to do to help it. He said efforts over the last three years to restrict contracts that stop data sharing — and instead give patients full access to data — are making a difference.
"I'm grateful to be a part of this solution," Nelson said.
'This is about people'
Scott Barlow, executive director of the One Utah Health Collaborative, said the survey findings confirm the urgency in transforming Utah's health care, which he said is happening with "thousands of little steps."
"It's important for us to acknowledge that a single unexpected medical bill is enough to push most Utahns over a financial cliff," he said.
Gov. Spencer Cox started the collaborative in 2022, with a hope that it would create an affordable, trusted health care system that improves the quality of life for Utah citizens. Collaborators from various areas of Utah's health care have joined the collaborative willingly and are helping find and address issues.
"This is about people; this is about people having healthy lives, healthy support systems," Barlow said during this week's webinar.
Sue Robel, president of Intermountain Health's canyons region, said Intermountain Health is learning how to adjust models of care to serve patients, build teams for them and understand access issues. She said they have benefited from data provided through the One Utah Health Collaborative to help move things in the right direction.
She said they are focusing on getting ahead of care through prevention and screenings, but it is a bigger issue than just its clinics. She said everyone working together is a step in the right direction instead of "pointing fingers."
"Boy, we have a lot of work still to do and look forward to continuing to partner with everyone here," she said.
