health care for all in san fransisco

[sway2sway]

this is great, I hope it pans out financially. Often people don't realize how much more it costs to have an inadequate support system, or no support system in place, which causes utilization of more expensive, and often inappropriate resources. we need to spend health money better, more proactively, not spend more of it.

"The initiative, known as Healthy San Francisco, is the first effort by a locality to guarantee care to all of its uninsured, and it represents the latest attempt by state and local governments to patch a inadequate federal system.

It is financed mostly by the city, which is gambling that it can provide universal and sensibly managed care to the uninsured for about the amount being spent on their treatment now, often in emergency rooms."



http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/14/us/14health.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin

[angischy]

It is financed mostly by the city, which is gambling that it can provide universal and sensibly managed care to the uninsured for about the amount being spent on their treatment now, often in emergency rooms."


A city like San Francisco isn't without its hurdles for a plan like this to work, but I'm eager to see how this works out for them.

In other news, Chicago's mayor was recently inspired by Paris' Velib, their public bike rental program, and plan to increase biking and decrease car traffic. He's proposing something similar (http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-daley-bikesep12,1,810922.story?ctrack=2&cset=true) for the Windy City. Chicago already has great public transportation, but this might be a welcome addition.
Shark, any thoughts on whether this will be successful, if approved?

[Miss Shark]

Chicago does have extensive bike paths, but crazy drivers, not unlike myself, lake effect snow, not to mention pot holes. I'm really not sure if it would work. Most of my biking was 4amish with the roads all to myself.

[angischy]

Chicago does have extensive bike paths, but crazy drivers, not unlike myself, lake effect snow, not to mention pot holes. I'm really not sure if it would work. Most of my biking was 4amish with the roads all to myself.

Biking 4 amish?
Is that like the March of Dimes?

I agree that the bikes wouldn't really make much sense for oh, let's just say 2/3 of the year, but I still think they are a nifty idea.
Maybe they'd just make them mountain bikes instead of road bikes, for all those potholes. Serious bike people like that trail riding stuff anyways, don't they?

[sway2sway]

I can't see that bike article, but I have heard of that.
I hope that san fransisco thing works out and it should, it really is just coming at the problem from a different angle which gives more bang for the buck.

I believe if there was universal housing, it'd be the same kind of savings. They did a study in BC a while back on the cost of being homeless. quite interesting. People think they don't want to spend their taxes on housing the homeless cause lord knows they pay for enough for them already, but this would in essence, reduce a lot of the other costs associated with homelessness. we spend a god damn lot on bandaids, that's fo sho.

http://www.cbc.ca/fifth/main_nowayhome_cost.html

[sway2sway]

I like this one. someone from the art school in vancouver made it. caused quite a stir, cause wouldn't ya know it the olympic committee had copyrighted the number 2010. they're like the gestapo. they also tried to make a pizza joint change it's name, olympic pizza or olympia pizza, it had been there for like 20 years. anyway....

http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i60/marley_lin/olympics_poster2.jpg

[Miss Shark]

I think the majority of funds should go for early 'support services'. I hadn't known the figures before sway, but I'm not surprised at all. This topic hits close to home for me, and I certainly do not have all of the answers. I feel we need to figure out how to reach people before they wind up chronically homeless or in jail, which if I recall correctly costs the US around $40k a year per prisoner.