dollars, he may have the same amount of dollars as me even though he worked less. we had an employee come down here last year. three weeks later, he was terminated. he had an account that was delinquent. nothing was contributed and in the meantime, he was terminated. they are after me next. i hope we can close these loopholes. all the information that i collected, helping the people that worked with me, i am the one that set people up with e- mails and so forth. my employer did not do anything. supervisor campos: thank you. next speaker please.

>> good morning, members of the board. i am an analyst of the curve and accountability office. this morning, i am not a representative of diego. i did research for my master's thesis. i conducted a study from january to may 2010. the authors of labor enforcement was interested in how these programs work. my results will be available after the meeting. through my research, historically, hra's have been used as a consumer health care plan model. these are often offered in tandem with a health spending account. however, although hra's are often offered in tandem with

high-tech plants, it is possible to provide these without coverage for catastrophic illnesses. you have also pointed out, controlled by employers since they can decide what they want to cover and whether they want to keep the money or roll it over to employers the following year. i also had the opportunity to speak to several employee benefit experts who said outside of san francisco, hra's are not offered without a health insurance plan. they were shocked when i mentioned that this was happening in san francisco. with more research, i found several benefits, brokers within and outside san francisco were

targeting san francisco employers to sell the stand- alone hra. i have some evidence here that will show -- supervisor campos: do you have a copy of that? >thank you. next speaker please. i am going to read a few names. >> committee members, i am the senior pastor at the true hope baptist church in hunters view breakpoin. i am on several other community interest groups. we are very concerned about this audience.

-- ordinance. i see a moral issue here. here again, we see those who have achieved in our society, trying to balance their situation on the backs of the port. that is a poor choice. the san francisco health care ordinance works. more than 50,000 san franciscans, residents have access to health care through healthy san francisco. the health ordinance saves taxpayers money. a loophole cheats workers, as we have seen in the committee today. another point i would like to

make, closing the loophole in the health care ordinance create scalable playing field of san francisco businesses. currently, the local creates an incentive for employers not to comply with the spirit of the legislation, and that is a devastating thing. not only the you have the intellect and knowledge of it, but the spirit of it. i hope you will improve this area and make sure the people of san francisco will be adequately represented. supervisor campos: thank you. next speaker please. >> otis charles. i speak on behalf of the episcopal diocese of california. we wish to show our support for the amendment that you are proposing to the current san

francisco health care insurance. nationally, the episcopal church has urged a single payer, universal health care system. what we have in san francisco is very close to this ideal. healthy san francisco works and provides money for those who need health care. it is unfortunate that some unscrupulous small businesses have found a way to make money out of this. the intent of the law, as you know, is to provide business and affordable way to health care for many who are uninsured, not to make money out of it. we are called to stand with the least in our community. we are here to support the amendment that will protect workers. more than 62 million is being

set aside for employees in reimbursement accounts, yet we are told less than 20% of that is being paid out. at the end of the year, the employers take back the money. this is immoral and unacceptable. the richest person gives generously to the needy -- righteous person gives generously to the needy. we are all accountable of how we manage our affairs and the business of our community. we call to accountability, those who cheat their workers and dishonesty practice their business. we look to you, our legislators, to perfect the laws, in order to protect. supervisor campos: thank you. next speaker please. [reading names]

>> good morning. i am here on behalf of health access california. i would like to think the board for your commitment to providing access to health care to all who live and work in san francisco. we recognize san francisco as a leader in health care reform, here in california and throughout the united states, since the passage of the health care security ordinance. we hope you continue to live up to the promise of providing meaningful care to the population. i ask that you support the amendment to close the loophole in san francisco's health care security ordinance. my focus today is to discuss how young people would benefit from this amendment. contrary to conventional wisdom, young people do get sick.

according to the journal of adolescent health, young people have the highest rate of injury- related emergency room visits among all age groups, and 50% of young americans have chronic conditions. young adults need health care benefits. young people do not purchase health care benefits because they cannot afford the cost of coverage. two-thirds of young workers ages 18 to 29 make less than $43,000 a year, and 23% of young adults live below the poverty level. san francisco workers need this amendment so that when they are injured, they will have access to their accumulated health care fund. i encourage you to forward this to the full board with recommendations to be approved. supervisor campos: thank you. next speaker please. >> good morning.

to the chair, my name is archbishop -- i want to thank you and i want to read some scripture. this loophole is being closed. legislation is meant to come back and correct it. we fully support what you are doing. but let us also say the president of the united states has followed this city and county's lead for health care. you should give yourselves a round of applause for providing every american with the chance to debate and be involved in health care process. no one has stepped up to the plate but san francisco workers and businesses, which does not happen every day. let me read you a part of the scripture.

xromans 12:1,2. your responsibility, as a servant, to be not conform to of this world, but be transferred by the renewing of your minds. that you may provide what is good and acceptable and perfect to god. in other words, what you are doing today would set the record straight for san francisco workers. you are also doing something that will help pay for this, by bringing more business to san francisco, as well as the america's cup. these things that we are doing today will benefit san francisco tomorrow.

supervisor campos: thank you. next speaker please. >> greetings of peace. i mam the imam of the san francisco muslim society. i want to read to you two versus from a wholly koran. -- holy koran. this is a from chapter 34 and

35. chapter 34 reminds us on the day of judgment we shall stand and be asked about agreements or covenants that were not filled or honored. 35 moves to talk about the good that comes from using the dry measure to measure grains properly, and urges us to use scales of balance with exactness, and with the good of doing so. for those who may have studied islam, early on, leaders felt a great burden, that on the day of judgment they would be held as possible for the orphan, for those who might stand a chance of being cheated, or having their money taken away unjustly.

will you be held responsible? supervisor campos: thank you. next speaker please. >> i am a physician assistant. i work in health care in san francisco since 1982, recently, at st. luke's. i would like to say something as a mother. when my daughter was 10, her best friend's mother had as much. they had no insurance and she was afraid to call the ambulance. she had an asthma attack and died. there is a myth that people without insurance end up on the

county. many of them do, but we should not be causing employers to cut that to happen. we called them welfar them welf. however, many people do not go to the hospital at all and die. i have seen many of them in my career. when healthy san francisco and hra's came into being, i cannot tell you how happy the patients were to come in to get coverage. i want to say something about employers. i have done a great deal of work in workers' comp, something of a parallel system. employers who do not buy into the system and tell their workers, do not worry, i will pay for it -- which is not

possible. then they bribe them to leave the area or the patients simply does not get treatment. this is very common. of course, the burden for worker's comp gets spread out among everyone who plays by the rules. again, i want to express my appreciation for closing the loophole on welfare cheats. supervisor campos: thank you. next speaker please. >> good morning. restaurant and hotel workers union. from a union that struggles day in and day out with over hundreds of worksites that would have to compete with the businesses exploiting this loophole, i cannot tell you how galling it is to be back here to fix a problem that we thought we fixed. i was shocked by the economic report that 70% of workers

experiencing this phenomenon with hra's are city residents. when we pass this, we thought hra's would be an attractive option to those who live outside of the city. the genius of healthy san francisco, the reason it passed unanimously and signed by the mayor, was that in leveraged our health infrastructure in a way that provided attractive options for businesses and workers, in particular, who lived in this city. think about the perverse, massive disincentive that this loophole creates for businesses. you can cheat your customers. you can pocket the money by cheating your workers out of what is due to them out of healthy san francisco. and then the city picks up the

tab. when workers get sick, their money is not in the hra's, they do not have insurance, they do not enroll in healthy san francisco. they end up at the general clinics and it is the city picking up the tab. this legislation does not pave a new road. this is nothing new. this only reaffirms what the previous board passed unanimously. it is time to pass this on. supervisor campos: thank you. next speaker please. >> vice-president of the labor council, founding member of jobs with justice. we are all here to say one simple thing. five years ago, some of us in this room worked hard to get this health care legislation passed, unanimously, by the

mayor. i just heard the mayor's speech about what a great law it was. in my opinion, these are unscrupulous employers who are not living up to their obligation and taking our money, at the restaurants or small retail stores. this has got to be stopped. the reason it has got to be stopped is because it is growing. this loophole is becoming worse. please, passed this loophole, let's be done with it and get on to the other important business at hand. supervisor campos: thank you. next speaker please. >> good afternoon, supervisors. as an advocate for sb810, mark leno's universal health care

bill, i applaud san francisco for having healthy san francisco. it is a great law. it is only one of its kind in the country. i am supporting closing this loophole, leveling the playing field and stopping these sheets -- cheats. that money is necessary for the program. we need every penny from every employer that can contribute to this program to make health care available for everybody. again, i applaud san francisco for having health care for everyone. i look forward to this loophole being closed. supervisor campos: thank you. next speaker please. i have a few more speaker cards.

[reading names] >> my name is laurie baker. my husband and i opened a restaurant a year and half ago. it was a lifelong dream, and i am happy that we were able to do it. we created 30 full-time jobs by opening our restaurant. nothing would make us happier than to provide full insurance for each and every one of our employees. i am sure you know, running a food service industry is such a small profit margin, it is not possible at this time. we encourage everyone of our employees to use their hra's. i just want to put my 2 cents in and say that if there were more incentives or tax breaks for small business owners to provide full health insurance to their

employees, instead of something like an hra, i think that would be money well spent . i also want you to think about the jobs that will be lost by closing the profit margin for small restaurateurs with the passage of this amendment. supervisor campos: thank you. next speaker please. >> good afternoon. i am the senior director of benefits, compliance, and compensation for camden hotels and restaurants. i want to thank you for your time in allowing us to speak today. also, clarifying some of this legislation for everybody. i would also like to say that we offer an hra, in addition to

comprehensive benefits that we offered to full-time employees. we do not charge surcharges at our restaurants, so we are not pocketing money as an added profit. our employees receive notice of eligibility together with the claim form and authorization for a direct deposit. samples of reimbursable expenses. the explanation is written in a clear question and answer format. the service that we used to deliver our hra does provide spanish translation. we do have a number of chinese- speaking employees. we have a good working relationship with our employees

about the understanding of their benefits. these materials are mailed directly to employee homes. they do have the option to opt out of the benefit. employees who want it are taking the advantage. we understand not every employee eligible for the benefits takes advantage. we offer comprehensive benefits to our full-time employees. we would love for all of our employees to be covered. as someone who runs a benefits program, i understand the importance of health care. supervisor campos: thank you. next speaker please. >> i am the owner of arcadia home care. i oppose this amendment. i am disappointed to hear you continually use language like it is a non-starter, when there is

a solution available. my industry does not charge a surcharge. we do not put money in our pockets. we provide services to seniors. this will continue to provide, to increase the cost of remaining in one's own home, our own relatives, forcing the industry to go underground without protections, supervision. adult protective surgeonservicey is already neglected. there is a solution. this should not be passed on to employers who already complied with every letter of the law. supervisor campos: thank you. next speaker please. >> i would like to get the

supervisor's attention. i am speaking on behalf of a restaurant -- there are about 11 of them in the financial district. we are a business that believes in health care for our employees. we provided health care well before 2006, and continue to seek to provide health care. we do not have that 3% tax because it has always been a cost of doing business. however, this legislation, as it is written, is counterproductive to the idea of universal health care, and this is why. right now, employers are faced with health insurance or a use or lose it hra. most will choose insurance because it is a better option. the with the legislation is set up now, the hra continues to grow, like a pension plan.

now when faced with a pension plan, $2 more an hour, they made choosethe hra. if there is a catastrophic accident, the person choosing the hra is going to get screwed. i really believe this legislation, as it is written, is counterproductive. supervisors have raised a great question. where does the money go? what happens if the employee changes jobs and has full health-care benefits? where does that money in the hra go? these issues are not addressed in the current legislation. we provide health care to our employees. we want to level the playing field, close loopholes, but this legislation, as it has been written, has not been thought out well enough. supervisor campos: thank you.

next speaker please. >> i am a third-generation owner of a san francisco business. i pay taxes, 100% in compliance with all the laws. but my business does not reside in san francisco. my office is in daly city. you talk about leveling the playing field. the playing field does not even level with the current provisions for healthy san francisco. it does not cover any employers that are under 20, and it has two different rates, so the rate of 1.37 or $2. the provision itself is not leveling the playing field. you also do not cover the cost of health insurance. you want universal health insurance, but you cannot talk about it in open session. you have to go into closed

session. if you want health insurance -- all my people get notices. they wanted to use it. 38% was used. everyone knows they can take that money and apply it to health insurance. why do 62% of my employees, for the last 30 years, choose not to purchase insurance? perhaps it is cost. perhaps it is another blank check to drive up health-care costs. medicare pays $10,000 in dues for home care agencies in certain associations. i have to pay $72,000 in workers' comp or somebody to take their daughter to a weight- loss clinic in the philippines. you are not dealing with cost. you say that all employers should pay this. this should be a benefit that all employers pay. based on the