A note on health care

Rising health care costs are on the minds of small business owners all over the country. It seems a nebulous problem, and proposed changes in the political world have only brought questions and contention. The city of San Francisco has tired of waiting for the state of California and the federal government to step up and make changes so it has taken matters into its own hands by creating Healthy San Francisco, a program that ensures health care for all the city's uninsured residents. I realize this program isn't going to do much for the concrete contractors reading this blog who face the challenge of keeping employee health insurance costs from irreparably damaging their bottom lines, but I think it's a program to keep your eye on. If a success, Healthy San Francisco can offer a model on which future health insurance programs could be based. If it fails, the mistakes learned from the program can be addressed in future attempts at similar programs. San Francisco does not plan on increasing taxes to fund this program, instead it plans to redirect the $200 million tax dollars currently spent on the uninsured and use it for preventative medicine. The city has also come up with a plan that discourages businesses from dropping their health insurance coverage for employees, as this would overburden the system -- the basis of this discouragement is currently being challenged and will be examined by the state's legal system in the coming months. I welcome your comments on this issue, and will keep you abreast of challenges and successes that arise from this program.