2013 Universal Healthcare Council

On July 25, 2013, Mayor Lee asked Director of Health, Barbara Garcia, to reconstitute the Universal Healthcare Council (UHC) to engage stakeholders in a data-driven process to examine San Francisco’s implementation of the federal Affordable Care Act (ACA) and its integration with the Health Care Security Ordinance (HCSO). The UHC met five times from September to December 2013, and membership included representatives from San Francisco’s labor, business, health care, and government sectors.

UHC meeting materials and the group's Final Report, containing suggestions offered by members of the UHC to inform the City's future decision making, can be found below.  

Addressing Affordability of Health Insurance in San Francisco

Pursuant to the findings of the 2013 Universal Healthcare Council, the Board of Supervisors and the Mayor amended San Francisco's Health Care Security Ordinance (HCSO) in 2014 to require the Department of Public Health (SFDPH) to develop a plan to increase the affordability of health insurance by leveraging the HCSO City Option.  Using the extensive research included in the report below, SFDPH developed a plan to ensure access to affordable health care for all low- and middle-income San Franciscans, presented to the Health Commission on July 21, 2015.

Through a generous grant from the California Health Care Foundation, SFDPH engaged Health Management Associates and the University of California Berkeley Center for Labor Research and Education as consultants.  Working collaboratively to complete tasks consistent with their expertise, the teams estimated potential program participation and associated revenues and costs, and made recommendations for benefit design and administrative structure.  The final report, below, was compiled by Health Management Associates and includes both sets of analyses, as well as findings from stakeholder focus groups conducted by SFDPH.

Addressing Affordability of Health Insurance in San Francisco - Technical Report