Why this issue is important
- Approximately 15% (82,000) of
San Franciscans 18-65 are uninsured. In addition, 120,000 San
Franciscans were without health insurance for at least part of
the previous year.1
- Approximately 46,000 employed
San Franciscans lack health insurance.2
- The most common reasons cited
by workers who work for wages for being uninsured include the
employer not offering health benefits (69%), not being eligible
for coverage (15%), or declining to accept coverage offered
(17%).3
- From 2001 to 2005, the
percentage of children enrolled in Medi-Cal /Healthy
Families/Healthy Kids in San Francisco has increased from 24.3%
to 29.3%.4
Background
Through listening to neighbors and fellow congregants, as well as
conducting research with policy experts, SFOP leaders learned that
between 45-57% of San Francisco children did not have health
coverage. Many working class families said that getting sick was “a
luxury we can’t afford.” Some had debts as much as $120,000 for
medical expenses.
The SFOP Campaign to Provide Universal Healthcare
Taking an incremental, pragmatic approach to policy change, SFOP
leaders called on public officials to:
• Preserve the healthcare safety net for the poorest among us
through increased funding for local community clinics.
• Expand health coverage for children and adults.
• Direct and expand resources for health care in California and the
U.S.
SFOP member institutions Mission Dolores Church (Mission/Castro),
Corpus Christi Church (Excelsior), Star of the Sea (Richmond
District) and Congregation Sha’ar Zahav (Mission/Castro) led SFOP’s
healthcare campaign, engaging their congregations deeply, and
encouraging the participation of SFOP members across the city.
Hundreds of members of SFOP also participated in several PICO action
meetings in Sacramento and Washington, D.C., involving thousands of
faith leaders from around the state and country. Through this
campaign, we worked in coalition with numerous other organizations,
including Coleman Advocates for Children and Youth, SEIU 790, San
Francisco Health Plan, SF Chamber of Commerce, and Mission
Neighborhood Health Center.
Measurable Results
- Won $200,000 for Mission Neighborhood Health Center and Excelsior
Clinic for Women and Children.
- Saved Excelsior Clinic and the public pharmacy at SF General
Hospital.
- Won Healthy Kids program to provide universal healthcare for
children regardless of documentation status (2001).
- Sponsored events that enrolled more than 2,000 children in Healthy
Kids.
- Won Healthy San Francisco – a first-in-the-country program to
provide universal healthcare to all 82,000 uninsured San
Franciscans.
SFOP Healthcare Timeline
2004
In partnership with the Senior Action Network, the Bethel AME local
organizing committee held a community action with various state and
local representatives. Leaders asked for greater statewide
legislation to advance the OURx Bill of Rights, a local public
awareness campaign about low cost generic and therapeutic
alternatives, and the regulation of exploitative pharmaceutical
marketing techniques. As a result of the action, the San Francisco
Department of Public Health launched a new website with information
about buying drugs from Canada. The website is a crucial component
of a public awareness campaign Bethel leaders have been advocating
for to help seniors get information on cheaper prescription drugs.
2002
We worked in partnership with the SF Health Plan and launched the
Healthy Kids program. This program ensures that for as little as
$4.00 a month a child in San Francisco can receive medical, dental
and vision health coverage regardless of immigration status. To
date, we have enrolled over 2,000 children.
2000
On May 2, 2000 five hundred SFOP leaders joined 2,500 other leaders
from the PICO California Project for a statewide forum on health
care. As a result of that action, 1) The Governor is seeking to
provide health insurance coverage for 600,000 adults through the
Healthy Families Program, 2) the state allocated $50 million in
funding for community clinic infrastructure throughout California
(clinics often serve as the first line of defense for uninsured
families), and 3) The Governor agreed to streamline Medi-Cal through
requiring only annual re-certification instead of quarterly.
2000
SFOP leaders from Mission Dolores Church took the lead in a nine
month campaign to save the pharmacy at SF General Hospital, which
provides free and low-cost medicine to thousands of low-income San
Franciscans every year. They held an action with 200 Latino families
in April, where they urged Dr. Mitchell Katz, Director of the
Department of Public Health to keep the pharmacy open. In
collaboration with healthcare workers, other non-profits and labor
unions we have finally been able to celebrate a compromise with the
city to keep the pharmacy open.
1999
SFOP held a Health Care and Education Action Meeting at the Church
of the Visitacion, asking Governor Davis to use the State's share of
the tobacco settlement money to insure working families. With over
500 people in attendance, many Spanish and Chinese speaking, members
of the Governor's staff, as well as City Officials, heard powerful
testimony from SFOP leaders about the need for health care for all
San Franciscans.
SFOP worked intensively on the passage of Proposition A, the ballot
initiative which had San Francisco voters commit $299 million to
replace Laguna Honda Hospital. Led by St. John's UCC Local
Organizing Committee, SFOP helped the ballot to pass with a 73%
margin, comfortably over the needed 67% of the vote. This work was
in coalition with Local 250, San Francisco's health care worker's
union.
Overview of Coverall Children Campaign
PICO
New Voices Campaign Vision
1
San Francisco Health Plan
2 Id.
3 Id.
4 Kidsdata.org
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