Unhealthy San Francisco

I'm sitting here sipping my morning coffee and noticed this little bit of bizarre editorializing in the New York Times (I'm shocked! Shocked!):

Last month, unable to bear her discomfort any longer, Ms. Ho came to North East Medical Services, a nonprofit community clinic on the edge of Chinatown, and discovered to her delight that she qualified for a new program that offers free or subsidized health care to all 82,000 San Francisco adults without insurance.

The initiative, known as Healthy San Francisco, is the first of its kind in the nation, and represents the latest attempt by state and local governments to patch a broken federal system.

What "federal system" are we talking about? We - thankfully - do not have a "federal system" for health care that can be broken. We have federal laws that needlessly prevent people - like Ms Ho - from easily obtaining health insurance outside of an employer, or that prohibit small businesses from giving their workers the same coverage as big companies and unions. But there is no "federal system," and San Francisco isn't "patching" anything.

What is San Fran doing? Well, they're forcing some of their residents to subsidize the health care of others. Good for them. I hope it works out. Of course, even San Francisco realized the perverse incentives their plan creates. The solution? More regulations:

A final funding mechanism has placed the program in legal jeopardy. To make sure the new safety net does not encourage businesses to drop their private insurance, the city in January will begin requiring employers with more than 20 workers to contribute a set amount to health care. The Healthy San Francisco program is one of several possible destinations for those funds, with others being private insurance or health savings accounts.

A "set amount"... and I'm sure the deep-thinkers on City Council will determine the precise and proper dollar amount for everybody, no doubt.

Back to my coffee.