Panel To Examine Health Care for Uninsured
San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom (D) this week named 10 members to a committee comprising health experts, labor unions and businesses to examine his plan to provide health insurance for the city's uninsured residents, the San Francisco Chronicle reports (Vega, San Francisco Chronicle, 2/10).
Under the proposal, residents who enroll in the plan would receive routine health services, such as physicals and prenatal checkups, at one of the 21 public and private health clinics around the city. San Francisco Health Plan, which runs the clinics, would administer Newsom's plan.
Certain complex procedures would be performed at designated hospitals in the city. The out-of-pocket costs for surgery and other major procedures would be capped at an undetermined amount (California Healthline, 2/1).
The committee, called the Universal Health Council, will be co-chaired by Sandra Hernandez, executive director of the San Francisco Foundation, and Lloyd Dean, president and CEO of Catholic Healthcare West.
The committee has 100 days to develop recommendations on the proposal (San Francisco Chronicle, 2/9).