Healthy San Francisco is a one-of-a-kind municipal law that requires all residents of the city to have health insurance coverage — and requires businesses to help pay for it.
Businesses with 20 or more employees must, by city law, help their employees obtain health insurance by one of three methods: offer insurance benefits through employment, provide health care spending accounts, or pay a fee to the city to fund the public health insurance program.
This law is specific only to San Francisco residents and businesses, and does not apply to California health insurance in other parts of the state.
Employers are also required to spend a certain amount per worker on health insurance: $1.23 per employee for businesses with 20 to 99 workers and $1.85 for businesses with more than 100 employees.
The Golden Gate Restaurant Association strongly opposes this provision. They’ve already sued the city, but have lost in state courts.
Most recently, the association appealed to the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, also losing in an 11-judge panel review, reported the San Francisco Gate.
But another appeal is coming, promised GGRA executive director Kevin Westlye — this time to the U.S. Supreme Court.
“This country has a health care crisis, and it needs to address it on a national basis. What we don’t need is one municipality to put out its version for an expenditure for health care, ” said Westlye.
San Francisco city officials continue to support the law, and urge Westlye to drop the suit.
“As a result of this ruling from the 9th Circuit, tens of thousands of San Franciscans have become eligible for health coverage. To continue to fight now, they are fighting to take coverage away from those workers. I would hope they would stop, take a deep breath and think about it, ” said Deputy City Attorney Vince Chhabria.