Universal health care stands up
to committee scrutiny

By Elizabeth Pfeffer

June 23, 2006

The Budget and Finance Committee heard the Department of Public Health's budget proposal Thursday, continuing discussion on the $200 million-a-year universal health care access plan Mayor Gavin Newsom and Supervisor Tom Ammiano announced Tuesday.

The San Francisco Health Access Plan, which is intended to serve 82,000 uninsured San Franciscans, had Supervisor Sean Elsbernd asking what the consequences would be if the actual number of SFHAP participants falls short of that projection.

He was critical of the possibility for fallout since the plan was designed under the assumption that all uninsured people will utilize it.

DPH Director Dr. Mitch Katz said that shouldn't happen.

"To make this workable this becomes your new sliding scale."

Rather than bill patients based on economic need, as is done at San Francisco public hospitals, SFHAP will charge monthly premiums dependent on similar income requirements.

It will cost $2 million to get the program in place, then the premiums will pay for it, Dr. Katz said.

The plan will also be subsidized by tax dollars and contributions from businesses.

The system will function so that fees are paid prior to hospital visits, like private health care, and in effect will become the payment option offered to uninsured patients.

But SFHAP is not health care, it's health care access, because it's only available in San Francisco.

The Budget and Finance Committee will continue to hear the DPH budget proposal and make changes to it and other City department budgets through next week.

On other items, the committee had already approved over $1 million in partial funding for the San Francisco Trauma Recovery Center earlier in the week, and approved an additional $111,000 Thursday in a 3-0 vote.

Supervisor Aaron Peskin was absent at the time, and Supervisor Elsbernd voted no on principal.

"I don't think it's appropriate to be adding back into the budget at this time. It's not the program, more than anything it's a symbolic vote about the process."

At next week's DPH hearing Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi said he wants to discuss reinstating the Worker's Compensation Clinic at San Francisco General.

The clinic was the only proposed program cut in the 2006-2007 DPH budget.

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