"[4][5][failed verification] Healthy San Francisco represents the first time a local government has attempted to provide health insurance for all of its constituents.
[9] Prior to the implementation of Healthy San Francisco, the city's safety net health care system for the low-income and uninsured consisted of several community health clinics, a public hospital (San Francisco General Hospital), and a citywide managed care plan.
[9][12] Newsom's proposal has prompted Oakland mayor Ron Dellums and San Mateo County's Board of Supervisors to look into possibilities for providing their own taxpayer-subsidized health care.
[4] The Golden Gate Restaurant Association filed a lawsuit seeking to overturn this policy, claiming the employer mandate conflicted with ERISA.
The 2010 Affordable Care Act also removed categorical eligibility for Medicaid, thus expanding the number of people who could enroll in the public insurance program.
[18] Approximately half of Healthy San Francisco's 60,000 patients enrolled in 2013 became eligible for Medi-Cal due to this expansion.
[20] Employers can elect to satisfy this requirement by paying into Healthy San Francisco, in which case their workers may apply for the program.
[21][22] Early evidence suggest that employers are spending more on health benefits, but some are raising prices and cutting back on hiring.
[25] Usage of primary and specialty care services among Healthy San Francisco enrollees was similar to that of the uninsured across the state of California.