Committee recommends contract with San Francisco Health Plan to cover temporary, as‑needed city workers

The Government Oversight Committee on Thursday recommended that the full San Francisco board consider an ordinance authorizing the Department of Human Resources to contract with the San Francisco Health Plan to provide health coverage to certain eligible temporary, exempt as‑needed city employees represented by SEIU and UHW.

Department of Human Resources representative Lianne told the committee the proposal grew out of last year’s labor negotiations and a subsequent joint committee of union and city representatives that reviewed multiple plans. "The committee started meeting in August and reviewed a number of different health plans, and eventually arrived at the Healthy Workers Program, which is administered by the San Francisco Health Plan," Lianne said.

The committee’s recommendation would expand the Healthy Workers Program, which currently covers in‑home support services workers, to this new group of city employees. Lianne said the contract as drafted would allocate about $54,500,000 over the term of the agreement and that "about 4 and a half million dollars will largely go toward funding the premium." She estimated the program could cover roughly 550 employees at any time.

Under the eligibility rules the committee developed, employees with fewer than three years of city service must have 450 hours in a given 12‑month period to qualify; those with three to six years would need 300 hours, and employees with more than six years would need 200 hours in the same period.

Chair Sean Ellsburn asked why the city was not using the existing Health Service System. Lianne said the Health Service System’s administrative rules — cited in the presentation as Administrative Code section 16.7 — do not provide access for temporary exempt employees with fewer than 1,040 hours, and that the committee chose the San Francisco Health Plan to meet a February coverage deadline.

Two members of the public spoke during the two‑minute public‑comment period. Selma Johnson offered broad, rhetorical support for the plan. Douglas Yap, a San Francisco General Hospital employee and member of Local 535, said the Department of Human Resources was still seeking an outside director and urged the committee to examine San Francisco General Hospital before any possible federal involvement. "I work at San Francisco General Hospital, and I'm a proud member of Local 5 35," Yap said.

Deputy City Attorney Cheryl Adams described a technical amendment to correct citations on page 1 of the ordinance (the transcript identifies the corrected references as Administrative Code section 16.7 and Charter Appendix A 8.42 o). Chair Ellsburn moved the amendment and then moved the item to the full board with the committee’s recommendation. The motion passed by unanimous consent; there was no roll‑call vote recorded in the committee transcript.

The committee did not take a final vote on the underlying contract itself; it forwarded the ordinance and the technical amendment to the full board for consideration. The committee adjourned after the recommendation was made.

Clarifying details drawn from the committee presentation: the transcript reports a contract total of $54,500,000; the committee separately identified roughly $4.5 million of that sum as funding to cover premiums; eligibility thresholds were described in hours per 12‑month period (450, 300, 200); and an estimated enrollment of about 550 employees was provided. The transcript also cites Administrative Code section 16.7 as limiting Health Service System coverage for temporary exempt employees with under 1,040 hours.