San Francisco to Cover the Uninsured

The City by the Bay is launching a new initiative that aims to provide healthcare for all of the its uninsured residents. The plan is to pay for coverage with existing resources that are spent on more expensive—and less effective—emergency room and chronic care.

New York Times:

The initiative, known as Healthy San Francisco, is the first of its kind in the nation, and represents the latest attempt by state and local governments to patch a broken federal system.

It is financed mostly by the city, which is gambling that it can provide universal and sensibly managed care to the uninsured for about the amount being spent on their treatment now, often in emergency rooms.

After a two-month trial at two clinics in Chinatown, the program is scheduled to expand citywide to 20 other locations on Sept. 17.

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