April 20 -
Press Advisory: For Immediate Release
Contact: Tomás Lee 554-5148
Supervisor Ammiano Calls For Plan To Provide Health Insurance to San Francisco’s 38,000 Uninsured Workers and Protect Local Businesses From Unfair Competition
Between $8 and $24 Million in Potential Costs Savings to Tax Payers
San Francisco Board of Supervisor Tom Ammiano will convene a special Finance Committee this Wednesday to investigate the feasibility of requiring San Francisco-based businesses to provide health insurance to its employees. The statewide version, known as Proposition 72, was defeated in November 2004 by California voters, but San Francisco voters passed supported the measure by a 70% margin. Ammiano plans to introduce a local version of Prop 72 that could save taxpayers up to $24 million annually.
One in six Californians lack health coverage and of those who are uninsured, an estimated 1.1 million Californians are employed. According to a 2005 survey conducted by the City Controller, one in eight San Franciscans are without medical coverage. Of those without health coverage, 50% are full time workers while 66% worked at least 15 hours per week.
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Gregg Sass, Chief Financial Officer for the San Francisco Department of Public Health, confirmed the potential cost savings to taxpayers by saying that "The Health Department conducted a review of uninsured patients treated at San Francisco General Hospital and our Community Clinics during the seven months ending on January, 2005. The review identified over 21,000 accounts comprising $14M in services that were provided to uninsured patients who identified an employer at the time of registration. This annualizes to $24 million in services, the majority of which was not collectable."
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http://www.sfgov.org/site/bdsupvrs_page.asp?id=31395