You can always trust SF for a juicy court battle. Forward thinking ideas will never be without their detractors, I’m just glad to live in a city that isn’t afraid to stand up to their constituency—in this case, the small business community/restaurant owners. On Wednesday San Francisco won the right to put in place a key part of its universal health care program. A federal panel of judges reached a unanimous decision to allow the city to require businesses with more than 20 employees to pay a fee to help cover employees’ health care costs. These fees are slated to help about 20,000 San Franciscans without insurance.

The law, which passed the city’s Board of Supervisors in 2006, had been challenged by a local restaurant trade group who said it would violate a federal statute prohibiting local plans that conflicted with the state or federal programs. It would also take a big chunk of change from their pockets, considering that most restaurants classify employee healthcare as a locker well stocked with Band Aids, burn cream and Advil.

Under the law, businesses with more than 20 employees are required to pay a minimum health care contribution of $1.17 to $1.76 an hour for each employee. The fees can go toward a variety of health-care options, including employer-provided insurance, health savings accounts, direct payment of medical bills, or payment into the new Healthy San Francisco program.

Tuesday, January 15th, 2008 \ 7:06 pm \ Uncategorized
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