Thousands of Utahns have no medical insurance, but the Utah Department of Health is reporting encouraging statistics.

According to Health Department spokesman Norman Thurston, the growth rate for people lacking insurance is beginning to flatten.

The department reported that the uninsured population in 2006 was 11.9 percent. This sets the number of uninsured Utahns at an estimated 306,500.

Even though the number of Utahns without insurance continues to increase, Thurston says the department is excited because the rate of growth appears to be slowing -- the first step for a decrease in the number of uninsured people.

In 2003, the uninsured population increased to 9.1 percent. In 2004, it increased to 10.2 percent. And in 2005, it reached 11.6 percent. While the number has been increasing, Thurston says that it is the slowing rate of growth that is exciting. The growth between 2003 and 2004 was 1.1 percent; the growth between 2004 and 2005 was 1.4 percent; but the growth between 2005 and 2006 was only 0.3 percent.

"The increase was not as large, but we're still going in the wrong direction," said Utah Department of Health Executive Director Dr. David N. Sundwall.

The report said that the increase was so small it could not be statistically determined whether there was an actual increase -- the data was not "statistically significant."

This is good news, Thurston said. "We hope it will continue to flatten out, and even go down."

Nevertheless, the growth rate for uninsured persons is still outstripping the population growth rate. The department's report said that the decade average for the uninsured growth rate was 6.9 percent -- 4.6 percent higher than the state's 2.3 percent population growth rate.

Officials at Mountainlands Community Health Center in Provo, a clinic that provides a full range of medical services to low-income families and individuals, says that despite the report, they are not experiencing an easing of demand for their services.

Lori Wright, development director for Mountainlands, said that between a growing population, high deductibles and expensive premiums, the lack of insurance "will continue to be a problem."

This summer, the Child Health Insurance Program will extend coverage to an additional 12,000 children statewide. Wright said that even with the added coverage, she did not expect to see a big change in the number of people who seek subsidized medical care from Mountainlands. Wright said that many of its patients have some form of health insurance, but often still require extra assistance for a variety of reasons.

According to the Utah Department of Health, working-age adults without a high school diploma, and people who identify themselves as belonging to Hispanic or Latino ethnic groups are the most at risk for being uninsured.

Uninsured Utahns received routine medical visits 17.2 percent less often than did the insured, and were 5.7 percent more likely to seek primary medical care from an emergency room or urgent care facility.

The report indicated several factors that lead to an increasing number of uninsured Utahns. They include a "decreasing percentage of employers offering health insurance; the cost of insurance premiums to employers, employees and individual purchasers; rising costs of health care locally and nationally; and general economic conditions affecting individuals and businesses."

What: Community Health Connect will be hosting its annual "Cover the Uninsured Health Fair." Representatives from various health care organizations will be providing hearing and eye screenings, general wellness physical exams, immunizations for children and health care information for those without insurance.

Where: Utah County Health Department, 151 S. University Ave., Provo

When: April 20 from 4-7 p.m.

This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page D1.