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Show HMO PENETRATION AND PREMIUM RATES PER MONTH A Health Maintenance Organization (HMO) is a health care delivery system that provides health care to an enrolled group for fixed monthly rates per person, irrespective of the volume of services provided. HMO penetration is the proportion of people within a population enrolled in HMOs. HMO Penetration Table 98 Year Utah U.S. 1991 1992 June 1993 21.4% 15.9% 21.6% 17.5% 23.6% 18.5% During 1991, HMO penetration in Utah was 5.5% above the nation's (Table 98). In 1992, HMO penetration in Utah was 4.1% above the nation. For the first six months of 1993, Utah was 5.1% above the nation's penetration. Average monthly family premiums in Utah were slightly higher than the U.S. rates in 1991, but the Utah premium stayed the same for 1992 while the U.S. premium rose by 9%, exceeding the Utah rate. The average monthly individual premium for Utah has remained below the national average for both years reported. The lower individual rates seen in Utah may be due to different lifestyles prevalent in this state, including such factors as lower incidence of smoking and lower consumption of alcohol. But it also may reflect a larger proportion of young people in Utah than in the nation. Table 99 Average Monthly HMO Premiums Year Utah Individual U.S. Individual Utah Family U.S. Family 1991 1992 $105.12 $110.76 $121.75 $128.76 $329.49 $329.49 $323.68 $353.57 INSURANCE COVERAGE The Utah Department of Health began a health status survey in 1986, to be conducted every five years, that includes a measure of the number of uninsured in Utah. The results of this survey indicate that Utah's uninsured persons dropped from 13.5% in 1986 to 9.5% in 1991. This decline may reflect the improvement in Utah's economy and the extension of Medicaid eligibility. It is a measure that is important to follow in order to measure the impact in public policy. Every five years may be too long an interim to see fluctuations. However, costs have prevented more frequent health status surveys. The state may be able to collect insurance information from periodic consumer surveys being made for other purposes, which would then give more frequent data to analyze. Table 100 Percentage of Those Having Insurance Utah U.S. Year Insured Not Insured Not Stated Insured Not Insured 1986 86.5 13.5 - 85.6 14.4 1987 ~ - - 86.2 13.8 1988 - - 87.2 12.8 1989 - - 87.0 13.0 1990 ~ - 86.4 13.6 1991 88.5 9.5 2.0 86.6 13.4 Utah's Health: An Annual Review 1994 69 |