. . . where the cost hits most of us regularly is in health insurance premiums. Utah Foundation’s latest report, “Paying a Premium: What’s Driving Health Insurance Costs in Utah?” found that a whopping 61 percent of Utahns obtain health insurance through employers. This is the highest in the nation and significantly higher than the U.S. average of 49 percent. There are various reasons for this, including Utah’s small elderly population, low poverty rate and robust middle class. It suggests that Utah is placing relatively low demands on public sector health programs.
That said, the private sector is directly shouldering a large and growing burden. From 2006 to 2016, Utah employers’ insurance costs grew by about a third on an inflation-adjusted basis. Employees also saw significant increases in contributions, but only by about a quarter. Nationally, the opposite is the case; employee contributions have been growing much more rapidly than employer contributions. And the employee increases have been steep — over 40 percent.
