Utahns enroll in ACA insurance coverage at fourth-highest rate in nation

As the Affordable Care Act turns 15 years old, Utahns are among the most avid participants in the country. 

A new study from the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute at the University of Utah found that state residents are enrolled in the government-backed health plans at an almost 12 percent clip. That’s the fourth-highest enrollment rate in the nation.

The enrollment rate means about 421,900 Utahns are participating — higher than the state’s Medicaid enrollment, which accounted for less than 10 percent of the state in February. About 28 percent of ACA participants in Utah are children.

HealthCare.gov is a platform run by federal or state governments that helps families, small-business owners, their employees and self-employed workers without access to Medicaid or Medicare compare and select health insurance plans.

“The Marketplace and the accompanying tax credits help make health insurance coverage affordable for Utahns who do not have access to health insurance coverage through work or public health care coverage programs,” Melanie Beagley, senior health research analyst at the Gardner Institute said in a statement. “These include small-business owners, their employees and self-employed workers.”

More than 710,000 Utahns work for small businesses, which aren’t required to provide health insurance to employees. Only 40.8 percent of them have access to insurance through their employers, the Gardner report found. That’s the sixth-lowest in the nation.

The report said the federal government funds up to approximately $1.7 billion in premium tax credits for the state. With a monthly average government contribution of $463, the monthly average Marketplace plan premium for Utahns comes to around $70.

In 2021, the American Rescue Plan Act raised the premium subsidies for every income level, including those making below 200 percent the poverty level, and were extended in the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act. Those subsidy increases are scheduled to end at year-end without another extension.

The end of the extensions will deeply affect most Utah enrollees. Almost 63 percent of Marketplace enrollees have incomes below 200 percent of the federal poverty level, which this year is roughly $31,300 per year for individuals and about $64,200 for a family of four, the Gardner study found.