Liberals Generous With OPM

No, OPM is not opium...it's "Other People's Money."

(San Francisco's) elected leaders, who in a rare display of unanimity agreed last summer to begin providing health care to all San Franciscans. At a time when the broken state of the health care system is at center stage -- in the race for president in 2008 and at movie theaters where Michael Moore's documentary "Sicko" is filling a lot of seats -- San Francisco is the first city in the country to try to tackle the problem itself.

The initiative, dubbed Healthy San Francisco, aims within 18 months to cover all 82,000 people in the city who lack health insurance. Immigration status, pre-existing conditions and employment status don't matter in enrolling for the program.

Healthy San Francisco is estimated to cost $200 million a year and will be paid for through a mix of public funds, participants' premiums and co-payments and employer contributions.

The city is mandating that employers who don't currently offer health insurance to their employees contribute to Healthy San Francisco starting Jan. 1. The Golden Gate Restaurant Association has sued to block this component of the program, saying small business owners simply cannot afford it. Both sides are due in federal court Aug. 31.

Do you qualify?
For information on Healthy San Francisco and to see if you qualify for coverage, call (415) 615-4500, e-mail info@sfhap.org or visit www.sfhap.org.

This should end well. Everyone who is poor or in the U.S. illegally should move to San Francisco immediately.

Be sure to thank the small business owners before they are forced to close and fire employees because of added taxes and unfunded government mandates.