penalty. what we tell people that while $95 is not that much much, it's better to have insurance than not. you can't predict what your drug cost are going to be or whether or not you need to see a specialist. get with these plans especially if you have two of these programs to help you out. i think i spoke about the tax credit, i talked about the cost share redeductions. roughly for the tax credits, there are credits for people who earn income up to 400 percent poverty. we caution counselor and people who work with covered california pros -- prospects to not think of people as poor, but the program is to determine qualifications for these programs. for example an individual who makes up to 45,000 or a family of four,

still qualifies under tax credit. that is not necessarily a poor situation. cost sharing for income of 250 percent federal poverty, that is something that only works for reducing their cost shares in the silver plans. we also want to let people know that there is a medi-cal expansion. they are raising it up to 138 percent poverty level which is about $31,000 for a family of four. i mentioned that there is the one plan that really, one flavor of plans where people can benefit the most if they are in the individual exchange. these are the silver plans. these are all sill -- silver

plans. these are at 100-150 and the next one is 150 to 200. on your left, your premium can be reduced to about $19 per month. if you are in that income bracket. your copayment for your primary care, remember on the silver plan was about $45. it's now reduced down the $3. the special visit gets reduced to $5. if you are at the higher income bracket is $45 for your primary care and $65 for your specialist. if you fall into a certain income and fall into a bracket, you get the tact credit and lower cost

sharing. only on these plans. here is an example of how the tax credit might work. this is a san mateo resident, 40 years old. if they were at the 150 percent federal poverty level, which is the 1st column, you will notice their subsidy is the color in green. they get $326 of their tax credit. if they are at the poverty level, their tax credit is $19. that gets applied to a premium for a 40-year-old. the black number is what you will see what they pay. if you are to the right and you are at 400 percent of the poverty level you pay that. >> what if they don't have any

income? >> if they filed a tax return, most likely they will end up in medi-cal. if they qualify for medi-cal. they wouldn't be looking at these programs. they would be looking at a medi-cal program. this is the calendar of where we are today. this is on the individual side. open enrollment starts in 8 days but coverage doesn't start until january 1st. the marketplace swears it will be ready in october 1st wefrment -- we are still working with them. we have counselors ready to be certified and take applications. if they m it's that open enrollment period, they will get to apply only in

special circumstances where they can enroll. the next cycle picks up next year. >> someone that doesn't have any coverage now and in and of itself open enrollment period, they have to wait until 2014? >> that's correct. >> meaning while they would be subject to a sign in >> -- fine. >> they would be subject to it for 2014. it's a one time fine. so one big thing for us, wha what was the we mentioned we focus on all the population but the chinese community which we currently serve. the enrollment

centers are not only in english and spanish. we are creating centers that have variety of languages. there are certain non-profits gearing up for this i think the city is helping san francisco to enroll in the plan whether it's medi-cal or covered california. with that, there is a lot of implications for small businesses. really a couple of things that small businesses need to think about, is what are their approach to covering they employees or not. how are they doing that today? they might need to reconsider that. plans and benefits are changing. so they need to look at what that's going to do for them. they need to look at their options and their needs depending on how large they are, how many employees they have and what's the median

income. this is a sliding scale. if you are wondering what the calculus was on all those subjects -- subsidies. on the lower income. for a lot of employer groups, they currently have with them a team of experts. they have a tax advisor, brokers and agents, health plan reps. work with them to figure out what's the best solution for your current situation because it's going to be complex. with that, it's all i have at this point. i thank you for your time. >> thank you. very informative. commissioner o'brien. >> yeah, i will start by reit rating by what the president

said. excellent information and the volume of data it's an investigate presentation. i would like to ask, could you send us a copy of that? chris, if you can follow-up with that. and secondly, a couple of questions, one is not exactly related to it but very relevant. i remember a tax credit is much more powerful than a tax deductible expense. other than to calculate what your total bill is, a credit simply is subtracted immediately out of the amount due to the irs where a deduction is not, it just lowering the gi in the first place. this is most definitely a tax credit? >> it is a tax credit

especially on the individuals side. as you apply you state what your estimated income is going to be and that puts us in the bucket and say this is what the plans are for and it gives you an event premium tax credit. if you are in a situation where you can qualify for cautionary reduction it will tell you that you can qualify with a lower plan tax care. you can choose to apply your tax credit to that plan or not. you can choose from bronze over platinum. but it is a tax credit. it's called an advanced premium tax credit which is advanced to you. when you file your tax, the next year, it will chew it up and say you over estimated on this side and that's where the, it will add or reduce baeg based on that.

>> so with advanced premium credit? >> the way it works, the way it was explained is based on how you enroll in covered california as an individual you state what your income is going to be this year and next year. it will put you into a bucket and advance you your tax credit for the premiums you are going to pay. so that will help pay your premiums tloutsdz the year. most people will choose to take it or you can wait for it and get your tax credit then. we assume most people, that's a choice. we can get it contemporaneously with your payment or you can wait to file your taxes. >> we can change that credit when we enroll? >> that's why they call it an advanced premium tax credit. it's only in the exchange.

>> so you make the correction when you file your taxes the fooling year? >> that's correct. >> kaiser has applied to knight -- to participate in this exchange program? >> yes. >> thank you. >> commissioner white? >> okay, you know this is all confusing, right? i have four questions. i'm not sure handout you -- how to start. because of the affordable act care is postponed individuals don't realize it's related to them. still october 1st is open enrollment and january 1, 2014, individuals are mandated for insurance? >> yes. there are a lot of requirements that large employer groups that needed to meet to meet an essential value. >> okay. so do you know what

the outreach is that for individuals to know that they are supposed to be shopping as of 8 days? >> yes. the 8 days is the start of the open enrollment period. actually the open enrollment is october 1st and ends march 31st. there is a lot of outreach. they sent a lot of money called navigate ors and outreach. they are working with brokers and that's why at this point there are about 13,000 brokers to advise their clients. >> the second question i have is for some small businesses like my own when we have manager coverage and not

medical coverage for part-time employees because they are under sf healthy. my understanding is that they are no longer valid. >> each plan interprets that underwriting guideline a little differently. it's really up to the -- let's start from a the group size is determined by the number of those eligible. the group numbers of the last quarter on average how many people worked 30 or more hours. then from there you qualify into the health plans. if you are in exchange, depending on how you cover your partners and

then it determines who gets to enroll and who doesn't. if they as part-timers, if in their employer coverage, they can go into the exchange and apply for the exchange. >> so you are not a hundred percent, like my manager already has coverage, this care as a small business owner, an i can just offer medical coverage for everybody. >> depends on how they wrote the rules on engaging your current design. because when you renew, they may or may not change those guide liens. the exchange, it's kind of your determination of how you want to cover. there are some employers that cover all of their part-timers as well.

baited based on what you make. it depends on what your health plan would underwrite that and how theyen -- engage those rules with you. >> had are is the last question. do you know then, based on that how sf healthy is going to comply with? because it seems like it's still an issue with what i'm hearing? >> yeah, i think, at least looking on their website, what they are doing if there are people currently eligible for people san francisco, it's part of their renewable process to see if they are qualify for covered california or medi-cal. they are going to use this to see if they qualify for one of

those programs. if they don't, then they qualify for medi-cal. for people new into san francisco, i know that counselors are still going to run that tropical storm whether you are eligible for california or qualify for this or medi-cal or if not, then, healthy center san francisco. i know they are sorting out that process. >> it's very frustrating for me because as an employer, what am i going to tell my employees as of october 1st, that based on the affordable act, that they are required to get individual insurance, but what is the outstanding answer or question to their healthy program related to that? >> they qualify for an annual program with healthy san francisco when they renew.

whenever they first came on to health sf, their program counsel or would say you are not in a plan. here is the coverage. i should nengs covered california portal is going to be used for medi-cal screening too. you qualify for one 1 bucket or the other. that is my understanding of their logic. >> commissioner riley? >> thank you for coming to make the presentation. what other

outreach effort do you have? did you reach out to the merchants group in the non-profits. >> yeah. one of the things we company a lot of is community outreach. we sponsor tables at health fares. wherever those situations arise we are there. for example just this week we were at the china house and a couple weeks ago we worked on the health fare, we worked at the lunar festival on health care. we have a number of seminars. for example the outreach manager is doing some of these talks at public libraries. so we are doing as much as we can being a leaner

organization and also providing information. >> you also mentioned earlier that a lot of brokers and agents have already signed up for training. is it safe to say that if we have any questions we can go to our certified brokers? >> correct. if they are certified, even if they are not certified, they are very aware of what's going on. the certification allows them to enroll and underwrite into exchange. so most of the brokers, a large number of the brokers are going to be up on this. >> sounds good, thank you. >> in i other questions? excellent presentation. >> thank you. >> a lot of us have been trying to get our heads wrapped around this issue. we've had a couple of presentations. yours is one

of the better ones because it laid it out there and it's kind of untangled a lot of that. it's here and i really appreciate your thoughts. so thank you. really, quick, do we have any is there any additional public comment? seeing none, public comment is closed. thank you, larry. that was a really good presentation. we may have you back. >> thank you. >> if we can get a copy of that, that would be good. that was a great presentation. >> can you leave some of your business cards. >> thank you very much. >> before we move on, i want to point out in the commissioner binders there is a fair amount of background material. it's important and informative. even though it's dense, there is critical information. you can see there is two example model

notices in the employer notification that is required for employers to provide to their employees no later than october 1st. this is a mold for employers who do not have insurance plans and those who do. this needs to be completed by october 1st. if you have any constituents our viewers out there that needs to get their hands on this, they can request a copy. >> item no. 7. legislative and policy committee report. >> this is a report from the last meeting. we an approved at our last commission meeting and

the massage parlor ordinance that we heard at the last commission meeting which the body approved at the policy committee meeting. that's all i have. >> for me, that outreach, we heard from the assess oris office about -- we need to do public comment first. >> is there any additional public comment? seeing none, public comment is closed. >> item no. 8. >> the outreach committee report and discussion and possible action item. >> yeah, at our meeting commissioner white and i were present and we had a presentation about the business property tax and really informational. no action required. >> is there any additional

public comment? seeing none, public comment is closed. >> item no. 9. president's report. >> the only thing i have to report is i did attend the counselor district meeting at the brewery along with my fellow commissioner mark dwight. director and secretary murdock. >> i missed it. >> tomorrow is the bay view merchants meeting at the anchor brewery. >> if you can get to one of those. i took something off my bucket list. in supporting your good san francisco institution. it was very informative. i liked what the different merchant corridors have to say. that is all i have at this time. >> great. item no. 10.

vice-president's report. >> nothing to report except that i'm going tomorrow to the bay view to a meeting. looking forward to that. >> next item, please? >> item 11, commissioner report. discussion item. >> any commissioner report? >> yes, i reported we were working with the sba, small business development center which is a non-profit organization. we put up the money smart for small businesses. we expected 20-30 people. out of our surprise we had almost 100 people attend. we had to turn people away because we were at capacity. no more chairs. anyway. i stayed through the whole workshop. it was really good. they covered

organization times and financial management, recordkeeping and credit reporting. this is insurance and planning. we had several outstanding speakers. i also reviewed some of the evaluations and i say 99 percent were very positive. i think this is the first chinese seminar for a long time in san francisco. we had a lot of request to do more. >> thank you very much and thank you for sphere heading that. any other commissioner comments? seeing none. >> item 12. >> any members of the public who would like to make any comments on future business. is there any additional public comment? seeing none, public comment is closed. >> item 13. new business? >> any new business for this commission for future meetings?

seeing none, next item. >> item 14, adjournment. >> we have a motion to adjourn. >> move to adjourn. >> second. >> all in favor say, "aye". >> aye. >> meeting adjourned. thank you. >> when the new california academy of sciences opened in 2008, it quickly became one of the top tourist magnets in the city. part of the cal academies' astronomical success is the weekly nightlife party. >> i am joined by helen, who is here to school me on all the nocturnal activities that are getting ready to take place here. tell us a little about what we can expect to see at nightlife. >> we open up the doors every thursday night at the california academy of sciences.

there are certain things you can see every week you can go to the museum, visit the planetarium, and we bring in bars and a deejay or band. it is a different feel from during the day, something different every week. tonight , we have beer and music. -- tonight we have great beer and music. it is beer week. we have a dozen local brewers in african hall. we have a deejays to set up throughout the museum and a live performance at 9:00 p.m. tonight. >> what has been your favorite part as a participant or as an observer? >> my favorite part is to walk around the aquarium in to see people with a drink in their hands, getting to know maybe somebody new, may be looking for a day, or chatting with friends. there jellyfish. i mean, they are beautiful. >> the culmination of the

animals. >> it is very impressive. we do not have this at home. >> tell us a little about some of the spider's we see here on display. >> at the california academy of sciences, there is a very large collection of preserved and live specimens, which are the evidence about evolution. we have the assassin spiders, which are spiders that exclusively kill and eat other spiders. they are under the microscope here. research done and the california academy's i rhinology lab suggests that the assassin spiders have been doing this for over 150 million years. this glassed in room is a real scientific laboratory, and the people in that room are preparing specimens of vertebrate, that is mammals and

birds. the way they do this is to remove the skin, sew it together in a relatively lifelike pose, and ensure that it does not decompose. >> i am a really big class actress fan, so i am here to see them, and beer week. >> i wanted to learn something and have fun. >> i always enjoy it. i am not all is well -- always working as i am tonight. sometimes i come to enjoy the music and to dance. ♪ >> culturewire covers the arts in san francisco, and one of my favorite culture artists is here tonight. jason, thank you for being on culturewire. tell us about some of your posters that we have here today. >> most of the posters here are four specific shows or tours.

i am hired by the bands or the venue. >> what is the inspiration behind these posters? >> no, disease of the related to the bay and, of course. music -- it is related to the band, of course the musical content or isn't related to the bed. album covers can come from anywhere. ♪ ♪ >> class actress was great. we have been having so much fun