Advocates OK with Changes in Healthcare Reform Bill

None by Eric Ray

(KCPW News) Lawmakers in Utah still plan to tackle healthcare reform, however the framework of that reform just got thinner. Changes in the primary health care reform bill have postponed any discussion of mandating all Utahns to carry health insurance.

The change sits fine with Judi Hilman, Executive Director of the Utah Health Policy Project, who says the mandate is the final piece of the reform puzzle and shouldn't happen until lawmakers tackle the issue of affordability. She says making sure all lawmakers have the goal of insuring everyone is the first consensus to build.

Hilman says the good news about House Majority Leader Dave Clark's bill is that it launches a solution seeking process. She is confident that the UHPP will be able to address concerns it has with the bill, including the definition of affordability.

Email to a friendPosted in KCPW Newsroom and 2008 Legislative Coverage. Copyright 2009 KCPW