Rette Speight

It could be 10 years before health care reform hits Utah, but legislators got started Friday by passing the bill unanimously in the House of Representatives.

"What we do here as leaders is the 'art of the possible', not the 'art of the perfect,'" Huntsman said. "Let us not forget that."

The measure, labeled House Bill 133, would create a task force to explore different health care options and give legislators a "comprehensive look at health care" said Rep. Merlynn Newbold, R-South Jordan.

Rep. David Clark, R-Santa Clara, who sponsored the bill, said the bill will revolve around three numbers: 3, 6 and 10.

"Three is the first step," Clark said. "We will take three years for identifying the plan. Six is the number of steps involved and 10 is because it is not going to be a sprint. It could take as long as 10 years to complete."

The six steps Clark shared involve bringing forward consumerism, promoting healthy behaviors, optimizing existing programs, staying together as a legislative body and making collaborative efforts, breaking down tax barriers with tax cuts, and coming back in November of this year with a strategic plan.

"There is a critical market for the citizens of Utah, and we cannot do any harm," Clark said. "The last thing we want to do is to create something that will jeopardize the system we have now. Let us improve where we are. We need to concentrate on getting to the end."

Rep. John Dougall, R-Highland, said that it is time to "start moving ourselves out of this pit."

"We've spent 60-plus years digging ourselves into this hole," Dougall said. "This is a step in the right direction, but we need to engage the individual and foster awareness at the grass-roots level. We have many times watched the government, with good intentions, cripple our health care system. We need to send a message to Washington, D.C., to leave health care up to individuals."

Sen. Sheldon Killpack, R-Syracuse, said that the Legislature is not just putting off reform by assigning a task force. Transparency is a huge issue in health care, Killpack said, and in order to "make a more market-driven system, transparency is crucial."

The need to create a smart system is very important, Killpack said, but it is most important to do it now.

Rep. Brad King, D-Price, pointed out that legislators do disagree on occasion.

"I'm not so sure we won't have some disagreements about this reform," Price said. "But we are united that now is the time to act as the state of Utah for rational changes in terms of health care."

The House of Representatives also was united in its enthusiasm for the new bill, passing it unanimously to the Senate.

"We're where we need to be," said Rep. David Litvack, D-Salt Lake City. "We need to hold each other accountable, not only to each other, but to the public."

Although the representatives are looking forward to the bill, they were quick to recognize the marathon ahead of them.

"To say this is a complicated issue would be the understatement of the session," said Rep. Phil Reisen, D-Salt Lake City.

"We've got a lot of work ahead of us to make sure we do no harm and to be a model for the rest of the country," Reisen said.