SEC. 12.200. HEALTH SERVICE BOARD.
§ 12.200
The Health Service Board is a seven-member body that oversees the city's health service system for city employees and retirees. Members are appointed or elected through specified procedures, with staggered five-year terms, and the Board has authority to manage health benefits, set policies, review costs, and hear appeals.
San Francisco has a Health Service Board with seven members: one Supervisor (appointed by the Board President), two people appointed by the Mayor (one healthcare consultant and one doctor), one person nominated by the Controller, and three elected from active and retired city workers. The Board runs the health insurance and benefits program for city employees. It sets rules, tracks costs, handles appeals, and can establish health or dental benefits for San Francisco residents. When a seat opens up, it gets filled through appointments or elections depending on which type of position is vacant.
- Complex:The section contains overlapping provisions about appointment procedures, term lengths with multiple exceptions, and succession rules that create a convoluted governance structure requiring careful cross-reference to Charter sections.
- Could be simpler:The term-setting language (describing specific expiration years for members beginning in 2011 and 2013) is dated and could be simplified by describing the general rule more clearly without the grandfathered exceptions.
AI-generated · claude-haiku-4-5 · informational only, not legal advice.
Official text
There shall be a Health Service Board which shall consist of seven members as follows: one member of the Board of Supervisors, to be appointed by the President of the Board of Supervisors; two members appointed by the Mayor pursuant to Section 3.100, one of whom shall be an individual who regularly consults in the health care field, and the other a doctor of medicine; one member nominated by the Controller and three members elected from the active and retired members of the System from among their number. Elections shall be conducted by the Director of Elections in a manner prescribed by ordinance. Elected members need not reside within the City and County.
Not later than April 1, 2013 the Controller shall nominate a candidate for appointment to the Health Services Board for a two-year term commencing on May 15, 2013. The Controller shall transmit a written notice of nomination to the Health Services Board. The Controller's nominee shall be subject to the approval of the Health Services Board. If the Health Services Board fails to calendar the Controller's nomination for consideration at a meeting to occur not later than 60 days after receipt of the Controller's written notice of nomination, the Controller's nominee shall be deemed approved. All subsequent appointments of Controller's nominees shall be for a five-year term and be subject to the same procedure. The Controller's nominee may not vote on his or her successor.
The terms of Health Service Board members, other than the ex officio members, shall be five years, and shall expire on May 15 of each year, with the exception that the term of the Board member that begins in May 2011 shall be three (3) years, and shall expire in May 2014, and the term of the Board member that begins in May 2013 term shall be two (2) years, and shall expire in May 2015.
The appointee nominated by the Controller shall succeed the elected member whose term expires at 12:00 noon on May 15, 2013. In the event the elected member whose term expires on May 15, 2013, leaves the Board prior to that date, the Controller shall nominated a successor to fill the unexpired term according to the procedures set forth above.
A vacancy on the Board appointed by the Mayor shall be filled by the Mayor. A vacancy on the Board of an appointee nominated by the Controller shall be filled for the unexpired term according to the procedures set forth above for Controller's nominees. A vacancy in an elective office on the Board shall be filled by a special election within 90 days after the vacancy occurs unless a regular election is to be held within six months after such vacancy shall have occurred.
The Health Service Board shall:
1. Establish and maintain detailed historical costs for medical and hospital care and conduct an annual review of such costs;
2. Apply benefits without special favor or privilege;
3. Put such plans as provided for in Section A8.422 into effect and conduct and administer the same and contract therefor and use the funds of the System;
4. Make rules and regulations for the administration of business of the Health Service System, the granting of exemptions and the admission to the System of persons who are hereby made members, and such other officers and employees as may voluntarily become members with the approval of the Board; and
5. Receive, consider and, within 60 days after receipt, act upon any matter pertaining to the policies of, or appeals from, the Health Service System submitted to it in writing by any member or any person who has contracted to render medical care to the members.
Except as otherwise specifically provided, the Health Service Board shall have the powers and duties and shall be subject to the limitations of Charter Sections 4.102, 4.103 and 4.104.
Subject to the requirements of state law and the budgetary and fiscal provisions of the Charter, the Health Service Board may make provision for heath or dental benefits for residents of the City and County of San Francisco as provided in Section A8.421.
(Amended November 2004; Proposition F, Approved 11/2/2010; Proposition C, Approved 11/8/2011)