hra's are restricted what types of medical services or premiums that the employer did reimburse. he also asked olse to specifically track hra reimbursement rates distinctive from all the other reimbursement accounts and to compare those accounts to reimbursement rates, he also decked olse to employ on which employers allow employees to draw down hra funds to cover health care. he asked our department specifically olse the office of small business and dph to conduct employee outreach around their rights and obligations under the health care security ordinance. and he called for a qualitative research effort to better understand employee barriers, real or perceived to accessing hra funds sparkly, that's something that we are working on doing that, i'm work -- working with many of the departments, privacy may be one that we would look at, but looking at it, i think ideally within those employers that are doing a real ri good job of drawing down and doing those reimbursements, what are the best practices and also looking at likely would be within the pool of employers that olse has i

hra's may be technically legal, but are they ethical? we really don't think so. thank you. we'll take any of your questions. >> thank you very much. could you respond to the question that i raised earlier about the fact that this is 2011 data, 2012 data will presumably come out whenever -- you know, next year, and to just respond to the concern that that data is from before the change of law took effect that places restrictions on the ability to give us the health surcharge when we're not spending the money on health care, etc.. >> i'm matthew cohen. i'm glad to be before the supervisors, for one thing, this is the information we had, and when we saw this information, we found that even though we knew more information was going to come out subsequent to that, this is really indicative of a process which we felt was not something that you can merely look away from even with the amendment that was passed, and for one thing, i am kind of concerned that even though money is supposed to be set aside for workers and if you're using the hra's, if the private employers and a consid

as a general category, the vast majority of that specifically to health reimbursement accounts or hra's, i think that# indicates and shows that the vast majority of employers who provide health insurance to their workers provides the vast majority to have spending are complying with the spirit and intent of the ordinance. looking just specifically at reimbursement programs as a general category, we did see the reimbursement rate increase sleekly from 2010 to 2011, that number went from 20% to 26%, and we found slightly more employers were utilizing reimbursement programs, that was a point that's been mentioned here. that 29% of employers, up to 32% of employers were using these forms of reimbursement programs, looking just as hra's which has been the source of some policy sdrution and much of the grand jury's interest here, 20% of employers, 373 employees allocated 66 million million dollars to these programs, 11 million dollars was reimbursed, 5 5* 5 million dollars went unreimbursed, the amendment tos the ordinance require employers who continue to utilize health reimbursement account

the report also shows that over half of employers using hra's actually placed some restrictions on the use of those accounts. when we first introduced the legislation, one of the things we heard from folks who were oppose today legislation was the problem is not so much, you know, the accounts themselves but simply the fact that people don't know that they exist, and we recognize that that was an issue, but we always said that that's not the only issue, that it wasn't just that workers didn't know but even workers who knew they had access to these accounts, even if they had the knowledge, they could not exercise their rights because restrictions were placed on how the money could be used, and these are some of the restrictions that were identified in this report, 30% of businesses actually do not allow employees to use hra's for health insurance. again, what the rational for not allowing workers to use that money for health insurance is, we're still trying to figure that out. we also found that 28% of employers did not allow, do not allow workers to use the amount -- use the money to e

is we may have a possibility that as some people are defending the use of hra's here in san francisco, at the federal level because of the health care act, the hra's will no longer be allowed at the federal level, so you have a situation where the country is headed in the direction that san francisco was going not too long ago, in san francisco, it's going in the complete opposite direction. i think we're better than that and i hope we can find a solution here in city hall but i do think that if at the end of the day that solution is not found, i think that notwithstanding what happens in city hall, the people in the city of san francisco are fair and just and ultimately might require the voters step in and do what city hall is not aib do. i hope we don't have to get to that point but in the past, that has worked and has been needed so i think that all oxen are on the table today, but i look forward to continuing this discussion. thank you. >> thank you, supervisor compos, okay, so right now, having heard the various reports and taking public comment, the committee need to prepare res

then with regards to the fourth response to recommendations around disallowing the use of employee hra options, i would recommend that it states it will not be implemented, the hra are important to businesses and with respect to complying with the chro, they use appropriate tools to make benefits readily available to their employees and with regards to the response of recommendation number 5, i suggest we state that it not be implemented with regards to eliminating time limits. it defer tos the public health response, so thank you for listening to that, and i'm making a motion that we revise the motion that included these findings and revise them as i had just stated on the record. >> and to budget and legislative analyst, anything to add? >> no, we have all of the information and if the motion is approver, we will revise the resolution part. >> i'm in agreement with those changes so we'll take that without objection. >> and just in closing remarks, i know this is an issue that obviously has a lot of perspectives and responses from my perspective, i do know and we will be monitoring th

a romn est'reseth hra t storr. meanwhile, ggverror in florida today... he paused his campaign to avoid aearing partisan in a national crisis... but political expertt say that enough time as passed... tos:e snol republican nominee ffr that like just like the rest of us are showing uu at our jobs." a$ and the timing might be right ffr romney ... nnw almost tiee with the presiient in a new quiinipiac poll ffr lw.. netate r.omar. of... west virginia. virginia.thht's becausee.. decoratiins are buried ...under 2 feet of snow...//.the state was poondedd.. by... izzard-like ponditions.../// so... instead oo jack-o-lanterns.... / innthe halloween spirit... by puttinmasks. onow rl old you that bge has restored power to about 80 percent of those whh lost it in the storm. the day...are you sstisfied of wi b-g-e'sespottsa f facebooo page tonight. ur go to fox-baltimore dot com and tell us what you think. you can also sound off through faaebook. send us aatweet.. at foxbaltime. and you caa text your answee to 45203. ent fox45a for yeor 3o foo baltimore is one step clo

sang to the child in old lull hra byes. a boy has come and laughter has come. a son has come and beauty has come. then the child gurgled and replied even now i can hear the music in his voice. suddenly wind spirits swished in turning and made the baby happily, we'll dance through the tall grass as you and i forever free. he is taken, he is taken aboard the ship and the elements go out and look for him and they do find him in, win finds him in south carolina in charleston, earth went looking for him. after earth fire, she could not get passed the fire. water follow it had ship and wind was able to go across and follow and find him. it was after many years that wind was able to find him. i'll read that last part. [inaudible] all living in the americas, i saw the taken shackled to the land from sun up to sun down working tobacco, sugar cane and rice. i listen to them tell stories different but strangely familiar. now prayer rabbit. i stopped by kitchens and watched our women with cook yams, rice, oh kra and beans. our children had not forgotten. and i rejoice, led

by and large hra employees do a good job. one thing you will find in welfare policies. discrim tive people on welfare caseworkers see them every day because they go to work they are showing up every day and they expect the same for people who ask for assistance. >> as i said i suspect your programs teach dependancy encourage it now and then i go to your centers and interview people. >> no jobs around? >> no. >> have you looked for a job? >> i can't work right now i am on disability. >> there's nothing out there? >> there are no jobs? >> we heard that again and again then my researchers walked around within a couple blocks and found 40 businesses hiring. within a few blocks they offered jobs for beginners. the people getting handouts don't bother to apply, so i wonder as i said what your employees really do at the job center. i asked a college intern to go ask them for help. tell them what you did. >> i went to a job center downtown in new york city i said hi, i am a college intern and i am looking -- >> the same job center where they were saying there were no jobs. >> i

hra, etopia, new delhi, india, and most recently as regional security officer at the u.s. embassy i tripoli, libya. a position i held from september 21st, 20,ntil hegicu ficer or rso at the u.s. embassy in tripoli i served as the principle advisor to ambassadors creditsnd stevens on security and law enforcement matters. i' hre ttoro iminpo our en optr 11t, 2012. including the murders of ambaador stevens, sean smith, glen doherty, and tyrone woods. i had the pleasure of working with ambasr stens ngi d eat me lobaador stevens is not only tragic for his family and sad for our country but his dea will prove to be a devastate loss for libya, struggling to recover from its recent civil w il i wke ndce tamilies of these four patriots who gave their lives in the service of their country. many of us were dedicated to anything in lib yo both home and aroad. to my colleagues that rved with me in the afterth of dra. snou hou myomng t the evening of september 11th. i have not sign an attack of such ferocity and intensity previously in libya nor wit my time in the diplomatic security se

for example, all hra centers are open for the people who need to access benefits, including stamp vouchers for people who lost food as a result of the storm. in addition, we are beginning to reach out to small businesses and help them recover. and stay in business. 311 has long waiting times right now. please use it online or text 311. horizon had some problems with airlines, but we have managed to keep some of the lines open. 911 has been going without a hitch. delays are up to five minutes at one point, but it is reserved for only life-threatening things. not for a tree, please. we just have to make sure that if someone has a real emergency, we can do to them. in terms of real emergencies, if you see a power line down, don't go near it. we have had many people killed for we have had someone killed stepping in a puddle where a powerline had touched as well. we expect an unprecedented storm impact, and that is what we got here in new york city. while the worst is past, conditions are dangerous. we cannot stress that enough. some coastal flooding will be in effect today until about 3:00 p.m

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