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UESF News
Vote NO on Prop. F
Stop the HSS Power GrabProposition F (Health Service Board Elections) would deprive active and retired Health Service members of experienced, strong representation. It would make an ill-conceived and unnecessary change in the process for electing the four member representatives on the HSS Board (the other three are appointed). Not surprisingly, the Board itself has voted not to support Prop. F.
Prop. F's sponsor, Supervisor Sean Elsbernd, has billed it as a simple little measure that would save the Health Service a little money in difficult times – an average of $30,000 a year or $150,000 over a five year period.
But what Prop. F's proponents do not say is that there would be no savings to anyone before 2016 – and no guarantee that any part of those savings would go back to the HSS.
Many HSS members see Prop. F as a first step in undoing the reforms resulting from Proposition C, passed in 2004 with strong member support. Prop. C established a more independent department, added a fourth elected representative and gave the HSS Board the right to choose the director. Its intent was to ensure that the HSS was prepared to stand up to the insurance industry and its allies when negotiating member rates and benefits.
In addition to UESF and the UESF-Retired Division, those who oppose Proposition F include the SF Labor Council, the SF Democratic Party and a growing number of political, neighborhood and retiree groups.
