80,000 Without Health Coverage in San Francisco Now Have Hope

by Mike Hall, Jul 19, 2006

We told you yesterday that the San Francisco Board of Supervisors was expected to approve one of the most far-reaching health care programs in the nation that would bring affordable, quality health care to 80,000 uninsured residents. They did, unanimously.

The Health Care Security Ordinance was approved 11–0. The San Francisco Labor Council and union and community activists helped build strong public and political support for the precedent-setting universal health care ordinance.

Labor council Executive Director Tim Paulson, who is part of the Universal Health Care Council appointed by Mayor Gavin Newsom to create the health care ordinance, said after the vote:

We are thrilled with this victory. All workers deserve quality healthcare. Workers without health coverage are just one accident or illness away from poverty and unemployment. The Health Care Security Ordinance will provide essential preventative care to over 80,000 uninsured San Franciscans. It will also ensure all members of the community—government, employers, and individuals—contribute fairly. It is cutting-edge health care reform that will serve as a model for the Bay Area and the nation.

The ordinance will create an innovative Health Access Program that will offer uninsured San Francisco residents access to comprehensive medical services. The program’s cost will be shared among employers, employees and the city. The ordinance also sets a minimum health care spending requirement for local businesses to help prevent employers from dumping currently insured workers onto the program.

In what activists likely say is a formality, the board must vote one more time next week to give the program final approval.

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