WASHINGTON — More than 4 million Americans lack health insurance for an unexpected reason: government regulations led to increased costs that make insurance just a bit too expensive for them to afford.
That's according to a study by the Joint Economic Committee, chaired by Sen. Bob Bennett, R-Utah. In turn, Bennett held a hearing Thursday about how government regulation of health care may have gone overboard, and is increasing costs too much.
"Patients, consumers and taxpayers are the ones who bear the ultimate costs of unnecessary regulation," Bennett said. "Excessive regulatory burdens can also harm our most vulnerable individuals, such as the uninsured."
Regulations range from hospital cleanliness and standards of care to insurance regulations.
A study released by his committee at the hearing said "regulatory costs increase health expenditures by an estimated 6.4 percent, driving up health insurance premiums and reducing insurance coverage."
It noted that some studies estimate that such higher costs result in a 2.2 percent decrease in insurance coverage nationally.
Duke University public policy professor Christopher Conover, who conducted some of the research that led to those numbers, testified, "This translates into 4 million uninsured whose plight might be attributed to excess regulatory costs, or roughly one in 11 of the average daily uninsured."
In Utah, nearly 200,000 people are uninsured, according to the Utah Health Status Survey. Of those, 6.8 percent are children. Eighty percent of the uninsured are working families.
Another 209,000 low-income Utahns receive insurance benefits via Medicaid, the Children's Health Insurance Program, the Primary Care Network and Covered at Work.
At the same time, as regulations force expansions in coverage, the costs of insurance continue to rise.
"I don't know what the answers are, but I do know we do not need more mandates," said Jennifer Cannaday, assistant director of legislative and regulatory affairs for Regence Blue Cross Blue Shield of Utah.
Critics say the regulations, while often crafted with consumer protection in mind, backfire because of costs.
"It is economically inefficient to adopt regulations whose costs exceed their benefits — and there is plenty of evidence to suggest that we routinely do exactly that in health care to provide extra assurance of quality care," University of Maryland law professor David A. Hyman testified.
The result is health insurance is becoming a luxury for many families, Cannaday told the Deseret Morning News.
"I have never understood why anyone would want to do anything to increase the costs of health insurance when so many people cannot afford it," she said. "That is what bothers me the most about additional regulation."
Dan Mulholland, a health-
care attorney, testified, "The health-care regulatory system has reached the point where no one — no doctor, no hospital, no lawyer, no government agency — can even begin to fully understand it, let alone comply with it."
He said that leads to extra lawsuits, mistrust among health providers, and higher costs.
Cannaday said there are many examples at the both the state and federal level of regulatory controls that drive up costs.
At the federal level, there was the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, which was a financial nightmare for health insurance companies, she said.
"The intentions are good, but when you turn toward implementing it . . . the costs just go through the roof."
E-mail: lee@desnews.com