Utah families are paying more for health insurance — and Congress can’t agree on a fix

Employee costs for family health insurance offered through their job increased more in Utah than the national average and dozens of other states amid an ongoing congressional fight over tax credits that help millions of Americans afford health care.

A 50-state analysis from the State Health Access Data Assistance Center at the University of Minnesota shows a sharp 2.5 % cost increase for Americans last year, outpacing inflation.

Annual health care premiums for families on employer-sponsored insurance did even more so in Utah, with the average premium increasing by more than $1,000 – a nearly 5% jump.

That could affect hundreds of thousands of people, since Utah had 2.1 million residents insured through an employer in 2023 – more than 60% of the population and the highest rate of employer-sponsored coverage in the country.

Some may see a boon, since individual premiums for Utahns on insurance through their job decreased.

But overall, insurance through a job is becoming “increasingly unaffordable for employers and their employees,” said Elizabeth Lukanen, director at the center that completed the analysis.

“As policymakers look for solutions to curb the growing health care affordability crisis, addressing the decades-long trend of increasing costs in employer-sponsored insurance must be part of the conversation,” Lukanen added in a statement.

Lawmakers, though, with a ticking clock to address expiring subsidies for some people insured through the Affordable Care Act before the end of the month, have yet to come to a consensus on the future of American health care policy.

Family premiums increased

Nationally, annual premiums for family coverage offered through employers rose to $24,540 last year, an increase of more than $600 from 2023. Premiums for individuals increased by more than $300 to $8,486.

In Utah, the average annual cost of family coverage increased by $1,084, putting the Beehive State amid 21 states where premiums increased by at least $1,000.

The 4.8% jump in costs last year is far from the biggest increases in states like Delaware and Alabama, where average annual premiums for family plans through an employer increased by 26.4% and 13.7%, respectively.

But it’s still among the largest increases in the country.

The rise also continues a trend of higher premiums for Utah families covered by employer-sponsored insurance, which have gone up 184% since 2022 and 26.3% since 2019. Premiums have also increased nearly every year since 2002.

On the other hand, average premiums for individuals decreased by $232 last year. They’ve also increased at a lower rate than family premiums, going up 160.3% since 2002 and 24.1% since 2019.

Health care costs a top policy concern

Rising health care costs have emerged as a top consumer and policymaker concern, the University of Minnesota researchers said.

Yet employer-sponsored insurance is often overlooked in policy debates, even though it’s “not immune from the healthcare affordability crisis that is tightening its grip throughout America,” said Katherine Hempstead.

Hempstead is a senior policy adviser at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, a philanthropic organization focused on making it so “health is no longer a privilege, but a right,” according to the website.

Most of the debate now is focused on tax credits that help people secure insurance through the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, via the health insurance marketplace. The credits were originally passed in 2021, which expanded tax credits for ACA coverage to people making more than 400% of the federal poverty level, which is equivalent to just over $62,000 for an individual.

But the vote on a three-year extension of the enhanced premium tax credits failed Thursday by a vote of 51-48, as it needed 60 votes to meet the Senate’s standard for closing debate.

Though originally considered a pandemic-era temporary measure, marketplace enrollment more than doubled in Utah and across the country when the enhanced credits were introduced, and are now set to expire at the end of the year.

Democrats made the credits central to the recent government shutdown fight, demanding that Republicans join with them to support a measure to extend the credits indefinitely. However, after a 43-day shutdown — the longest in U.S. history — eight Democrats defected without a deal on the subsidies to reopen the government.

Lawmakers float policy solutions

Some Republicans have coalesced around a bill that would extend the credits for one year with income caps, but the bill has not garnered support among Utah’s own representatives or Republican leadership.

U.S. Rep. Mike Kennedy, a physician representing Utah’s 3rd Congressional District, said Thursday in a statement to The Salt Lake Tribune that he was committed to addressing health care costs but does not think a subsidy extension is the proper way to do so.

“Obamacare promised affordability, but instead we got a subsidy-fueled illusion with spiraling costs hidden by taxpayer dollars and deficit spending,” Kennedy said. “Premiums are rising faster than everything else and subsidies haven’t stopped it. … It is not enough to just extend temporary ACA subsidy extensions.”

Kennedy said last month that he would support reform of the third-party handling of pharmaceutical plans and hospital billing, as well as higher pay for health care providers. He also recently said he would support expanding health savings accounts.

So, too, has House Speaker Mike Johnson, who floated a range of ideas on potential health care policy legislation to pass before the end of the year, according to Politico — some more concrete than others. The speaker, a Louisiana Republican, reportedly brought ten ideas to a meeting Tuesday, including expanding health savings accounts, overhauling pharmacy benefit manager oversight and simply “Innovation.”

He did not propose extending the enhanced premium tax credits.

The rest of Utah’s all-GOP congressional delegation — including Sens. John Curtis and Mike Lee and Reps. Blake Moore, Celeste Maloy and Burgess Owens — did not respond to a request for comment regarding what kind of legislative reforms they would support in lieu of extending enhanced tax credits.

In a CNN appearance Sunday, Curtis called the attempt to pass a three-year extension “not really a serious effort,” and argued that any discussion of the extension needs to include a minimum premium rate and a cap on income eligibility.

“That’s not a thoughtful vote to say we’re just going to extend what we’re doing,” the senator said.

Curtis and Lee both voted against the extension on the Senate floor.