SAN FRANCISCO: Supervisor Proposes Health Insurance Incentive
A San Francisco Supervisor unveiled a plan Monday which aims to "expand health care coverage for private-sector employees and their significant others without added cost to" San Francisco. The San Francisco Examiner reports that under the plan, companies bidding on contracts with the city "would get a leg up in the process if they offer health care benefits to their employees." The plan would give "even greater preference" to those companies offering "benefits to spouses and domestic partners of their employees." Supervisor Leslie Katz, sponsor of the proposal, said the plan "would not penalize companies that do not offer benefits, but "would 'only offer encouragement' to do so." Katz said, "We want to give employers the incentive to do the right thing." The Examiner reports that the specific "kind of advantage the companies would be given" has not yet been determined. Currently, the city gives "[f]irms headed by women and minorities ... a 10% bid preference on construction, engineering, professional services and purchasing contracts" (Gordon, 4/14).
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