Here’s How Utah Cares Works

If Utah Cares were to become Utah state law, there are three important actions that would take place:

  1. Conversion of Public Employee Health Plan into Utah Cares, a health financing program for all Utahns.
  2. Creation of the Utah Health Systems Commission, which will oversee Utah Cares and serve as uniform source of health planning, health policy information, and health data for Utah with powers to create regulations about and adjudicate claims concerning Utah’s health system, including Utah Cares.
  3. Creation of a universal graduated health financing plan to replace employer/employee health premiums, to be named the Utah Health Care Tax, funds generated to be deposited in the Utah Cares account and used exclusively to finance necessary care for all Utahns.

How Utah Cares would benefit Utah families:

  1. Substantial reduction in health care costs, as measured both globally (reducing percentage of state GDP spent on health care) and individually (both employers and patients will spend less on needed care, with few exceptions)
  2. Universal financing with little or no out of pocket payment for all medically necessary care for Utah residents
  3. Freedom for Utah patients to choose any licensed provider of health care and any hospital or other in-patient facility
  4. Hospitals and health professionals focused on optimal care for patients and not on optimizing profits or revenues, leading to better quality care
  5. Health planning and education connected to health care financing yielding a better match between community health needs and health facility and professional deployment
  6. Separation of health financing from employment, allowing individuals and small businesses to enjoy a stronger economic position, leading to a more dynamic, growing economy
  7. Non-profits and public entities freed from the burden of health care costs and therefore free to focus on community mission
  8. More consistent and growing support for now marginalized health services, such as primary care, mental health, addiction recovery, dental care, vision care, and long term care.
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