CHEYENNE - As head of a company that manufactures animal research equipment in Wheatland, William R. Britz has found a way to provide health insurance for the company's 50 employees.

But it isn't easy.

"It's very difficult to provide a good health care package at reasonable cost," Britz said."The cost goes up about 20 percent every year, and it's hard to pass on to your employees."

It's the same situation at High Country Fabrication in Casper, which manufactures equipment for oil refineries. The company provides health insurance benefits for its 55 employes, but it pays only for the employees and not dependents, said Marcia Cromwell, human resources director.

"A lot of our guys don't cover their spouses or kids because they can't afford it," Cromwell said.

Both Cromwell and Britz, president of the Wyoming Association of Manufacturers, are interested in the work of the Wyoming Healthcare Commission, which is looking at the potential for a "Wyo-Care" personal health care savings account program. The goal is to reduce the number of workers who are not covered by employer-provided health insurance plans.

According to a recent study done for the commission by the Wyoming Department of Employment, an estimated 19 percent of full-time workers in the state, or 34,832, and 88 percent of part-time workers, or 49,018, were not offered health insurance benefits in 2002.

Tom Gallagher, who worked on the report as manager of research and planning for the Department of Employment, said the study was prompted by a gap in the availability of insurance.

A proposal similar to the Wyo-Care plan is "germinating" in Kansas, Gallagher said, while other states are adopting parts of the plan.

One strategy to remove barriers to employer-provided insurance is to allow employees to make a contribution to health insurance costs. Another would be to use state or federal funds to help finance the plans through an existing program.

"This is an attempt to see if the situation can be more effectively managed and get more flexibility in the system," Gallagher said.

Britz said he believes most manufacturers in the state would be interested in the plan. His company, Britz-Heidbrink Inc., makes steel cages for pharmaceutical laboratories and other research facilities.

"If there were a way to improve costs, all the manufacturers would at least take a look at it," Britz said.

Cromwell said she hopes there is some way manufacturing companies could group together and buy health insurance.

"The reason ours is so high is because we have so few employees," she said. The rates should be lower, she added, if more people were in the group plan.

The insurance gap

According to the Department of Employment study, middle-age Wyoming men who have worked for a long time in large firms and earn high wages have the best access to employer-provided health insurance. But youth and women who have worked only a short time for small firms at low wages have much lesser access to health insurance benefits.

Joyce Mowery, one of two employees at the House of Flowers in Cheyenne, said the business does not provide health insurance for workers.

Mowery, who has worked at the flower shop for three years, said the lack of coverage isn't a problem, because both she and her co-worker are covered by their husbands' health insurance plans. But others in the state don't have that sort of backup.

To save costs, the report said, many employers are imposing strategies such as having employees pay more of the premium cost, reducing benefits and reducing copayments.

One financial firm with 21 employees reported increasing the deductible for its employees from $300 to $2,000 to keep up with the rising costs.

The plan envisions greater participation by employees, who also would have more authority and choices in health care coverage. But so far, no research has touched on the employees' willingness to participate, the report said.

The report suggested the starting place for an insurance initiative could be the 16,000 workers in manufacturing, wholesale trade, financial activities and education and health care who are not offered health insurance benefits.

These industries have lower-than-average turnover and pay more than the retail and service trades. Gallagher said employees in the low-paying retail and service trades can't afford to pay for their health insurance benefits.

"I hope a positive practical strategy comes out of this," Gallagher said.

What the study found

Other findings in the Wyoming Department of Employment report:

* Rising costs - Employers agree something is "very, very wrong" with sharp increases in health insurance costs but don't agree on the cause.

* Impact on income - Rapidly increasing health care benefit costs constrain salary growth, with a consequent long-term effect on worker retirement income and employer profitability.

* Small businesses - The Wyo-Care proposal appears to be ideal for employers with 10 to 19 employees. Nearly 80 percent of employers of these small firms said cost is the primary barrier to offering insurance.

* Lesser interest - Wyo-Care would have limited appeal for industries such as construction and leisure and hospitality.

* Government help - More than one-third of employer comments suggested solutions based on greater government involvement.

Capital bureau reporter Joan Barron can be reached at (307) 632-1244 or at joan.barron@casperstartribune.net.