San Francisco Public Press: Healthy San Francisco reporting project

The San Francisco Public Press, a startup news organization doing public-affairs reporting in the Bay Area, is producing an in-depth explanatory project examining the track record of a city-sponsored health care program called Healthy San Francisco. The two-year-old program provides basic coverage to city residents who do not qualify for employer-subsidized health insurance and cannot afford to buy it on their own. It has quickly become a test case for government-run care at a time when the fate of the national consensus on health care reform is quite fragile. Supporters of the program point to the high rates of satisfaction reported by the 53,000 patients served through a network of county-run hospitals and health clinics. Detractors cite the high cost in taxes and fees, especially to city-based businesses required to pay into a fund to support the system. The Public Press project, involving three reporters, a photographer and an editor, will examine data that the city's Department of Public Health has collected and the mainstream media has failed to fully analyze.