Been awhile since we engaged in much top-grade health wonkery here, so today I'll go over the recent haps. Consider it health wonkery day. First up is San Francisco, where the Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a plan that would make SF the first city in the nation to offer comprehensive, universal care to everyone, regardless of immigration or employment status. So now you can leave your heart in San Francisco and, when you go to pick it up, get a triple bypass while they're conducting reinsertion.
What's fascinating about the proposal is that what SF is offering is actually a city-run insurance plan, paid for by a light assessment on employers, consumer premiums tied to income, and copays evaluated the same way. This wouldn't change the way the uninsured are treated so much as give them a comprehensive insurance option. When you sought care if the SF area, they'll seek to sign you up for this program, which'll give you a card, a premium, a primary care doctor, and home clinic. It's a method of integrating those on the outskirts of the health system into the mainstream so they can receive preventative care and basic services. The downside is that the plan won't get you any care out of SF's border.
If this works, it'll be a real milestone, more proof that the state can run a general pool insurance program. Dangers will be an influx of poor or needy folks seeking health insurance, though anyone who's been to San Francisco knows the city hardly has space for more homeless. I'd be fascinated to know what the premium scale is, and whether insurance companies will begin offering SF residents out-of-city packages that ensure coverage while traveling. The big question will be whether this attracts only the uninsured and indigent, or it becomes a viable option for the middle class. We'll see. For now, though, SF joins with Massachusetts in the category of states and municipalities fed up with federal sluggishness on the health crisis and pioneering innovative solutions. A round of applause for all involved.
