SALT LAKE CITY — The state is partnering with Utah's major health care companies and community groups to launch a new initiative designed to lower costs and provide greater accessibility.
On Tuesday, Governor Spencer Cox stood on a stage in the Utah State Capitol rotunda with health care executives and state health leaders to unveil the "Utah Model of Care." It is a plan to rework Utah's health care system.
"It's really about making sure that Utahns have good health outcomes," said Tracy Gruber, the executive director of Utah's Department of Health & Human Services. "In order to achieve that you need all players and everyone at the table."
Everyone apparently is at the table, including companies like Intermountain Health, University of Utah Heath and Regence BlueCross BlueShield.
"As we want to look at how to improve health in Utah and also lower costs of care, we all have to work together. Without that overarching vision and focus that we all have to own and participate in we would not be successful alone. For Intermountain, this is a great opportunity to partner and help our communities," said Susan Robel, the Canyons region president for Intermountain Health.
The plan includes new ideas to make health care more accessible and efficient, including more convenient hours or an expansion of telehealth services, utilizing more non-clinical staff, emphasizing preventative health care and keeping it cost-effective.
Even patient advocates like Matt Slonaker of the Utah Health Policy Project, which helps many low-income people get insurance, said the Utah Model of Care has promise.
"I'm very optimistic," he told FOX 13 News. "We’ve got the right folks in the room thinking about these things in a glass is half-full lens. However, we’ve got to be real and we’ve got to propose solutions that get to the heart of the matter."
Research from the University of Utah's Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute shows that health care premiums are increasing three times faster than incomes do. A recent poll found 86% of Utahns worry about being able to afford health care in the future.
"We’re really excited that the model of care is being launched to bring that unity across the public sector, private sector, health systems to address a really challenging and important issue to Utah," said Gruber.
It is not an instant cure — it's a 15-year plan. But with buy-in from health care companies and patient advocates, it will start to be implemented in the next couple of years. The Utah State Legislature may be called upon to pass bills or fund items under the Utah Model of Care umbrella.
"We’re committed to actually fund and provide the highest quality and lowest cost system in the world," Senate President J. Stuart Adams, R-Layton, told FOX 13 News.
