PHOM Indicator Profile Report of Health Insurance Coverage

Why Is This Important?

Most people need medical care at some time in their lives. Medical care is often quite expensive and is becoming more expensive. Health insurance covers all or some costs of care and protects people from very high expenses. Persons with health insurance are more likely than persons without health insurance to have a regular source of primary health care and to have routine preventive care. Persons without coverage often have delayed seeking needed care and find services difficult to afford.

Compared with state surveys in Utah, the U.S. Current Population Survey (CPS) and the American Community Survey (ACS) have historically yielded higher estimates of the Utah population with no health insurance coverage. Reasons may include difference in question wording, data weighting, and data imputation for missing values. For a thorough discussion of why state health insurance estimates differ from those produced by the U.S. Census Bureau, please refer to the State Health Access Data Assistance Center (SHADAC) publication 'Comparing Federal Government Surveys that Count the Uninsured: 2016' at [http://www.shadac.org/publications/comparing-federal-government-surveys-count-uninsured-2016]. Beginning in 2011, BRFSS data include both landline and cell phone telephone users as well as an updated weighting methodology for analysis. BRFSS data shown in this graph are based on the old methodology for years 2009 and 2010 and the new methodology for years 2011 forward.

Data Notes

Health insurance is defined as including private coverage, Medicaid, Medicare, and other government programs.   [[br]] [[br]] Estimates for this graph are crude, not age-adjusted.

Risk Factors

There is an association between poverty and lack of insurance.

How Are We Doing?

In 2020, an estimated 383,500 (11.8%) of Utahns were without health insurance coverage. (BRFSS data)

What Is Being Done?

The Utah Department of Health administers programs to improve access to care, such as Medicaid, Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), and Utah's Premium Partnership for Health Insurance (UPP). The Department also works to improve the "safety net" for persons who lack health insurance. This is done through primary care grants to rural areas and clinics for children with disabilities. Local health departments provide preventive services such as immunizations and screenings at low or no cost to eligible persons who cannot afford them.

Healthy People Objective: Increase the proportion of persons with medical insurance

U.S. Target: 100 percent