In response to the growing number of uninsured adults in San Mateo County, the Board formed the Blue Ribbon Task Force on Adult Health Care Coverage Expansion (Task Force) on June 26, 2006. This group was charged with exploring options for providing comprehensive healthcare access and/or insurance coverage to uninsured adults in San Mateo County living at or below 400% Federal Poverty Level (FPL) and bringing recommendations to the Board of Supervisors by July 2007. On July 24, 2007, the Board accepted the Task Force’s Preliminary Recommendations, through Resolution Number 68874, and agreed to reconvene the group to develop final recommendations.
Over the past eighteen months, the 37-member task force, comprised of representatives from healthcare provider organizations, labor, chambers of commerce, advocacy groups, the Health Plan of San Mateo, cities, and San Mateo County departments met to explore the strategies of expanding healthcare coverage and to develop recommendations for the Board’s consideration.
Following the adoption of Preliminary Recommendations, the Task Force met an additional three times in late 2007 and early 2008 to hear expert analysis in three key areas: provider and delivery system capacity, options for legally viable revenue generation, and public opinion surveying. This information shaped the collective agreement of the group and the development of the Final Planning Phase Recommendations approved by the Task Force on March 21, 2008.
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The Task Force estimates that there are between 36,000 and 44,000 uninsured adults in San Mateo County living at or below 400% FPL and adopted a framework for incremental coverage expansion to meet the needs of the full uninsured and underserved adult population. Opportunities exist to better integrate and align resources to serve this population’s healthcare needs through the coordination of key community assets such as the Health Plan of San Mateo, the San Mateo Medical Center, and private providers. A strategy to achieve coverage expansion and the goal of a healthier community necessitates a sharing of responsibility and a strengthening of our public system.
The Task Force’s Final Planning Phase Recommendations provide key components for adult coverage expansion. In addition to these recommendations, the Task Force has developed a framework for implementation and established mechanisms for continued collaboration among Task Force members. The implementation framework and timeline align with the Health Management Associates’ Phase II Recommendations adopted by the Board, through Resolution Number 69252 on February 5, 2008. The Redesign First-Year Implementation Plan includes many of the initial implementation steps identified by the Task Force. In addition, a Community Financing Workgroup has agreed to explore the public feasibility of new revenue generation mechanisms.
The Board Memo and Resolution have been reviewed and approved by County Counsel.
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