Utah Health Insurance

Utah’s health insurance companies face slightly more concrete legislative boundaries than those in most other states, which can be a great advantage to any resident that is currently looking for a good deal on health coverage.  The most important ally you can have in this process is information, and to that end we offer the following rundown of Utah’s current health insurance regulations.

• The government of Utah issues licenses to all health insurance companies within its borders that abide by its regulatory laws.  While an unlicensed company will not necessarily break all (or even any) of these regulations, you should probably assume that any information mentioned below applies to licensed companies only.
• Utah requires all health insurance policies sold here to include a clause guaranteeing your right to renew coverage each time it is due to expire.  So long as you’ve paid your premiums on time and included no false information on your insurance application, insurers in Utah cannot legally prevent you from keeping your coverage in effect.  In addition, no health insurance provider may legally cancel coverage on the grounds that an insured person has fallen ill.
• All children born to or adopted by an insured person in Utah are automatically considered to be covered under the parent’s health insurance, assuming that this policy applies to dependents.  Handicapped or disabled dependents that are covered by the health plan of a parent or guardian may also remain under this coverage even after they would normally have exceeded the maximum age stipulated in the policy.
• Pre-existing conditions, defined in Utah as health problems diagnosed or treated up to six months beforehand, may be designated as excluded from any new health policy you acquire in this state.  This exclusion period can normally only last for up to twelve months, but in some cases an insurer may attach an “elimination rider” to the new policy that designates that condition as being permanently outside their responsibility.  Any normal exclusion period that has already gone by will automatically be credited toward your new coverage when you switch to a new insurance policy in Utah.
• Your health, age, and other risk factors may be taken account by insurance companies in Utah when they are deciding whether to offer you coverage, and may also affect the cost of your insurance within certain legally-defined limits.
• Every qualifying applicant for health coverage in Utah is automatically granted access to three state-standardized plans with varying levels of cost and coverage, in addition to any other policies that the insurer may offer.  Again, these plans may vary in cost depending on the applicant’s risk factors.
• Any small business that meets certain basic requirements is automatically granted access to any group health insurance policy that is currently being offered to other small businesses in Utah, as well as three standardized group plans.  Keeping any group policy in effect may require meeting certain conditions, such as keeping at least a minimum level of employee participation or making a standard contribution toward each employee’s premiums.
• The cost of group coverage for any small business can vary dramatically from one company to the next, based largely on risk factors like age and health status among the insured employees.
• Self-employed Utah residents are not given any special consideration with respect to having access to health insurance— unless there are at least two employees involved, group coverage probably won’t be made available.  A large portion of the premiums for individual coverage may be tax-deductible, however.

Buying health coverage in even the most closely-regulated market can be a challenging process, but it can be made much easier by taking advantage of the abundant information resources available on the internet.  Once you’re ready to start comparing prices from one insurer to the next, be sure to double-check the details of each policy that appears to be a good deal before giving it serious consideration.  As long as you’re careful and willing to learn, you stand an excellent chance of finding great health coverage in Utah.

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