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Supervisors approve amendments to Health Care Security Ordinance, set Nov. 15 committee review
Summary
The Board approved substantive amendments to the Health Care Security Ordinance — including a two-year accrual window and rollover of reimbursement-account balances — and voted to continue final action and sit as a Committee of the Whole on Nov. 15 for additional public comment and analysis.
Supervisor Cohen introduced a package of amendments to the San Francisco Health Care Security Ordinance that would change how employer-funded health care reimbursement accounts operate, then the Board voted to approve the amendments and to continue final consideration and sit as a Committee of the Whole on Nov. 15.
The amendments approved include increasing the period in which employees may accumulate funds in a health care reimbursement account from one year to two years, requiring that unused balances be rolled over so employees do not start the next year at zero, and strengthening protections for consumers where businesses impose a surcharge for health care but spend less than the surcharge on employee health care. The package also requires businesses to report to the Office of Labor Standards Enforcement (OLSE) not only total health care expenditures but the items that are reimbursed through employers' health reimbursement account plans.
"It will increase the time period by which employees can accrue funds in a health care reimbursement account from 1 year to 2 years," Supervisor Cohen said when she introduced the amendments, and added the reporting requirement is intended "so that we can begin to gather more details about the number and ways businesses are being restrictive." President Chu and several supervisors said they supported the approach as a balance between worker protections and business concerns. "I absolutely think that there is a loophole that needs to be closed and we need to figure out the best way to do that in a way that ensures that we are getting healthcare to our employees but do that in a way that is minimizing job loss," President Chu said.
The Board recorded two formal steps on the item. First, the body voted to adopt Supervisor Cohen's amendments to the ordinance (motion to amend), with those amendments approved on a roll call vote. The Board later took a separate roll call to continue the item for a second reading and to sit as a Committee of the Whole on Nov. 15; that motion passed 6–5. After the roll calls, the clerk confirmed the item will be continued to Nov. 15 for additional public comment and committee review.
Supporters on the dais emphasized the amendments would close what they called a loophole allowing businesses to collect surcharges purportedly for employee health care but not spend that money on workers. Several supervisors said the amendments are substantial and warrant additional public comment and analysis before final adoption.
Next steps: The Board set a Committee of the Whole on Nov. 15 for additional public testimony and a continued first reading; the item will return at a later standing meeting for final action.
