Health Care

Utah Foundation wins top awards for policy research

Written by: Dan Bammes

The Governmental Research Association, the national organization for public policy research professionals, has recognized Utah Foundation’s work with two of its top awards. The selections were announced August 1st at GRA’s national conference in Detroit. The three-part Utah Health Cost Series was honored with the Most Distinguished Research award. Utah voters put health care at the top of their list of priorities during 2016’s Utah Priorities Project, with their concern focused mainly on the cost … Continued

The Utah Health Cost Series — Video

Written by: Sam Brucker

Utah Foundation’s three-part Utah Health Cost Series is summarized here in this short video:     You can find all three installments of the report here.

Health insurance costs force hard choices

Written by: Peter Reichard

When historians look back on this era, they will undoubtedly note the rapidly growing role of health care in our economy and in our lives. Health care spending now accounts for about one-fifth of America’s gross domestic product. In the background is a massive shift in expectations. Our ancestors lived with untimely deaths from accidents and diseases as a regular part of life. Today, cures of diseases are almost expected, and afflictions that were once … Continued

Utah Thrives – Generic Drugs

Written by: Dan Bammes

Voters across the state of Utah identified healthcare – and healthcare costs – as their top concern in Utah Foundation’s 2016 Utah Priorities Project. Increasingly expensive drugs have helped to push the overall cost higher. Unscrupulous companies that have cornered the market for some important generic drugs and dramatically raised their prices has only made the situation more complicated. In January, the CEO of Intermountain Healthcare announced a joint effort by several non-profit hospital systems … Continued

Bringing Light to the Heat of the Health Care Cost Debate

Written by: Peter Reichard

In each decade, one or two public policy issues emerge as thematic. In the 1960s, for instance, it was civil rights and Vietnam; in the 1970s, it was energy and “stagflation”; in the 1980s, tax reform; in the 1990s, welfare reform; in the 2000s, terrorism. For our current decade, health care has come to dominate. Utah mirrors the nation on this. In a 2016 statewide survey, Utah Foundation found that health care was the number … Continued

Looking Back on 2017: The Top 5 Findings

Written by: Peter Reichard

Each December, Utah Foundation’s Board of Trustees gathers to look back over the previous year’s accomplishments. As part of the review, the board ranks the year’s research findings based on which findings they found most remarkable. The following are the top 5 findings of 2017. Number 5: Despite experiencing below-average unemployment rates for the past four years, wages were not increasing as expected in a tight labor market. In May 2017, Utah Foundation released Help … Continued

Looking Back at Utah Foundation Research in 2016

Written by: Dan Bammes

Maybe there’s enough time in these final days of 2016 to catch our breath. We’re looking back at Utah Foundation’s research reports as well as the Utah Priorities Project. A monumental election season has concluded, with a challenging session of Utah’s legislature just ahead. Here’s our ranking of the top ten research findings of the past year, along with links to a report or research brief on each. 1 Only half of new education funds go … Continued

Utah Thrives: Healthcare

Written by: Dan Bammes

Healthcare was the #1 issue identified in Utah Foundation’s statewide survey of voters. It was 4th on the top ten list in 2012, but current political debates and the implementation of the Affordable Care Act have helped to push it to the top of the list in 2016. In this edition of Utah Thrives, we’ll hear from some top thought leaders in the healthcare field, including Dr. Vivian Lee, Senior Vice-President for Health Sciences at … Continued

Priority #18: Marijuana Laws

Written by: Mallory Bateman

This post continues our blog series on concerns that many Utah voters expressed in our survey that didn’t make the cut for our top ten list. This year, marijuana laws made a first-time appearance in the Utah Priorities Project survey, coming in at 18th place. Its appearance was likely due to several bills touching on marijuana being proposed in the Utah legislature, as well as seeing the positive fiscal impact on neighboring Colorado after their legalization of … Continued

Utah Priorities Project: Explaining the Candidate Survey

Written by: Dan Bammes

Utah Foundation Research Analyst Christopher Collard joined KSL’s Doug Wright on Wednesday, April 6th to talk about the Utah Priorities Project candidate survey. This second report in the 2016 Utah Priorities Project looks at the answers given by seven candidates for governor to a set of questions about issues of concern to Utah voters. The questions are essentially the same as those posed to voters in the first report, which identified the top ten issues … Continued