Priority 1. Healthcare
View full brief here
Since the very first Utah Priorities Project in 2004, healthcare has always been among the top five priorities (see Figure). It held steady at fourth place in 2008, 2010, and 2012, but jumped to first place in 2016. This jump is likely in response to the extended discussion on Medicaid expansion in Utah, as well as the recent, sharp increases in the cost of healthcare.
In the preliminary open-response survey, 9% of comments indicated that healthcare was a top concern for the respondent. Of these, 82% identified a specific aspect of healthcare or health insurance. The majority of these specific comments were related to the state’s Medicaid expansion issue or to getting coverage for low-income or all Utahns. Cost was the next largest response, with a handful of respondents indicating they generally felt healthcare costs were not affordable. Other respondents noted that they saw the Affordable Care Act, commonly referred to as “Obamacare,” as a failure.
Healthcare Position in Utah Priorities
Briefs, Reports, and Blogs
Utah Foundation’s brief on healthcare
Also, feel free to glance through some of our older reports and blogs about healthcare.
View all Air Quality Reports
- The Affordable Care Act: Placing Healthcare Reform in a Historical and Comparative Context
- Utah Priorities 2012, Issue #4: Healthcare
- Utah’s Health System Reform: Key Issues to Resolve
- Controlling Healthcare Costs, Part Two: Analysis of Five Reform Concepts
- Controlling Healthcare Costs, Part One: Understanding the Factors Driving Healthcare Inflation
- Utah’s Health Condition
- Utah’s Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP): How Well Are We Doing?
- Utah’s Implementation of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program
View all Healthcare Blogs