Closing SF health care loophole debate heats up

Letter to the Editor

San Francisco Chronicle
901 Mission St.
San Francisco, CA 94103

October 3, 2011

Dear Editor,

You recently reported on legislation of unused worker’s health reimbursement accounts. As a community member, my perspective is that both Lee’s and Campo’s plans fail to achieve balance between the business and worker, for which I propose alternatives.

For the current legislation, I accumulation of unused funds is necessary to save for later risk. Many of the businesses offering HRA’s are restaurants or businesses trying to save money and rely on the unused funds. I propose that the required amount for the business to spend on worker’s health be based upon an assessed ability to sustain costs. Also only a certain percentage of the annual unused funds would accumulate, and when employees leave the company, their accounts would be available for the duration of COBRA eligibility.

I agree that Lee’s plan lacks details. I also believe it lacks action and creates inefficiency by withholding businesses’ money; however, Lee’s proposal to survey the funds should still be included alongside new legislation. By surveying the amount the health expenditures and health care outcomes over time, the city and businesses could determine need for HRA’s or whether to provide only HealthySF or insurance as options.

Sincerely,

Maneet Kaur

B.A. Candidate Public Health May 2013
College of Letters and Science
University of California, Berkeley
Email: maneetsandhar@berkeley.edu
Mobile: (530) 635-1376