Enrollment in San Francisco's universal health care program booming

[marmar]

from the San Francisco Chronicle:



Like any thriving 3-year-old, the city's universal health care program is bounding along. A new annual report for 2009-10 shows Healthy San Francisco, created in 2007 as the first of its kind in the nation, is having positive effects on patients' health and the city's bottom line.

There are currently 53,400 city residents enrolled in San Francisco, a 24 percent uptick from last year. People must drop off the rolls if they become qualified for Medicare or Medi-Cal, and many others have moved out of the city or obtained regular health insurance through a new job. Eighty-one people quit the program because they didn't like it.

The average participant is an Asian man between ages 25 and 44 who speaks English, lives below the poverty level and resides in the Excelsior. The second most common neighborhood is the Mission.

Costly emergency department visits remained the same year-over-year at 164 visits per 1,000 Healthy San Francisco patients, compared to 275 E.R. visits for 1,000 residents statewide.

This all happened in a health department with less money due to the city's continued budget deficits. The department had a $1.47 billion budget last year, down $10 million from the previous year.

"From our perspective, Healthy San Francisco is moving the way we want," said the program's director, Tangerine Brigham.

- Heather Knight


http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/10/22/BAKR1G0387.DTL#ixzz138nEYsSc

[tabatha]

1. That's San Francisco values for you!!!

[SocialistLez]

2. I did some research on Healthy San Francisco

and I liked what I saw on their website.

Sounds like an awesome program.

I wish my city offered something like that.

[Exen Trik]

3. So if we can't get it nation wide...

And fail to get it at the state level... one city at a time might just work. It only takes a few examples to be made and the tremendous benefits to be made clear to the public. After that the whole thing might just catch on. Too bad SF gets demonized so much, or maybe it already would have.

[AsahinaKimi]

4. Woooo! GO San Francisco!!

Sorry. I needed to get that out of my system. oh yeah.. GO Giants!

[xchrom]

5. recommend