Healthy San Francisco - I'll try to explain....

"I'm intrigued by the health tax. Was it charged bc pizza is unhealthy or is it on all food?"

photo from my last post

In a culture of self-employment, entrepreneurship, and start-ups, San Franciscans not working for large employers face independent insurance prices that are cost-prohibitive. Clearly even catastrophic coverage can put a huge dent in one's annual income. These folks have the added blip of earning too much to qualify for any federal or state programs. So Mayor Gavin Newsom passed something in 2005 to provide healthcare to the 10% of SF residents without insurance. Recent stats show that 8% of population uses this program (total pop of SF ~800,000).  

It's not insurance per say, but it offers affordable health care for uninsured residents who don't qualify for Medicare or Medi-Cal (california's medicaid program).  

Basic enrollment is about $20 - $150 a month based on your income level (unless you earn less than $11,000 annually...then it's free) with $10 copays for primary care visits and $5-$25 copays for meds. I think it's $220 if you get admitted to the hospital. 

How it's getting paid for:

All businesses with 20+ employees have to either offer health insurance or help pay for the city's health care access program: Healthy San Francisco (HSF). Some restaurants are calling attention to the extra dollars they have to dole out by asking their patrons to help cover some of the cost by either tacking on a couple of bucks or up to a 4% surcharge on the bill (no, you don't tip on that amount). 

I'm not taking political sides on this one, but I feel comfortable letting you know that I had zero issue with my $1.50 to help provide medical care for an anonymous SF-er!