San Francisco is a crazy political town on any number of levels, but we can get some really good progressive changes started right here. One of the best pieces of legislation we’ve crafted here is “Healthy San Francisco”, something of a universal health care plan.

It’s not what you typically think of as universal health care.  It isn’t insurance per se, rather it is just a funding mechanism that works on a sliding scale. It only works within the county, and it’s far from perfect. But, the brain child of current Asm. Tom Ammiano has been a great way to experiment with health care funding in the real world.  Mayor Newsom worked with Ammiano to get it passed, and as a result, a lot more of the community has come on board.

But, of course, all are not happy.  The restaurants of SF are the most aggrieved, apparently.  Basically the rule calls for employers to either provide insurance or pay 4% of wages to the city to pay for Healthy SF.  The Golden Gate Restaurant Association (GGRA) sued to block the measure.  

Not only that, but they also tried one of the cheesiest bits of PR that I’ve ever seen. Many eateries across the city started passing the cost directly on to the customer.  Now, that’s fine and all, I’m accustomed to paying for their expenses, but this was both dishonest and a moneymaking scheme. First, they charged a flat 4% of the bill, which really exceeded the cost of the new fee by quite a bit. But the larger issue was that they were trying to pit customers against employees by embittering customers with the 4% fee.  Do they charge 10% extra for rent? or 1% for silverware? These are the costs of doing business. And hey, guess what, you have to pay for health care for workers in SF. Suck it up and charge me an extra 50 cents for my garden burger, but don’t try to get me pissed off at my server.

And now…the end is here.  The Supreme Court today rejected GGRA’s appeal:

The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to review San Francisco’s Health Access Law that forces most employers to contribute to a health care plan for their workers. The decision ends a four-year battle to uphold the law’s legality.

When Healthy San Francisco was enacted it was considered groundbreaking; the city offered local health plans to the uninsured with funding through employer contributions.

Now the US Supreme Court has refused to consider a lawsuit filed by the Golden Gate Restaurant Association when the law went in effect. Deputy City Attorney Vince Chabria says this is great news for 53,000 beneficiaries of the program. (KCBS)

In the end, I wholeheartedly agree with Asm. Ammiano:

Today’s Supreme Court decision is an affirmation of San Francisco’s landmark efforts to provide affordable health care to the uninsured. With over 50,000 people receiving health care services and prescription drugs, Healthy San Francisco is a national model for what can be accomplished when the public and private sector work in partnership towards a common goal.