Health Care Surcharges - what do you think?

5/5/2008 Teddy "HeyTed" B. says:

in case no one chimes in, there's been a couple threads in the last few weeks regarding he surcharge.
myself, i don't care for it.

5/5/2008 Julie "It's not me, it's you" O. says:

I personally vacillate between pissed and okay, pissed and okay. I'm pissed when I'm broke and mean. I'm okay when I have a couple of bucks and am understanding and at peace with the universe. Hey, we all deserve health care. Try getting sick or injured without it. I'm THOUSANDS in debt because of it. But then when my hospital bill shows up and I have to pay it, I'm broke and mean again so F no we shouldn't have to pay for that crap!

5/5/2008 Amy "Diva" A. says:

I will say, that I too am conflicted on this because I tend to feel like less govt is better.

5/5/2008 Marian "Momsie" G. says:

I was having lunch at Roti (on West Portal) and this is the first time I ever been charged the Health Care.   While, I was at China First on Sunday and there wasn't any such charge.  Go figure.

5/5/2008 Mark "don't Cry for me Arrrrr-gentina" A. says:

I like it. I like folks to see the consequence to thier vote for more spending.

5/5/2008 Adam M. says:

If they are getting healthcare now, I have no problem with only tipping 16 percent.

5/5/2008 Jessica "Just Eat It...eat it...eat it...eat it..." S. says:

I'm okay with adjusting my tips accordingly. I figure it'll just hurt the restaurants more in a time when people are strapped for money and can't go out as much.

5/5/2008 Cornelius "indigomaster" S. says:

i'm in favor of it.

5/5/2008 Brad "Wow has yelp changed" B. says:

I told my boss he should start taxing restaurants that tax customers 4% for health care same as they are and see if they would honor it.

5/5/2008 Amy "Diva" A. says:

Brad,

Could you explain this better?  Where do you work?  Do you supply restaurants?  It's a touch unclear what you mean.

5/5/2008 frisco j. says:

amy, you might want these threads useful for your blog entry.
http://www.yelp.com/to...
http://www.yelp.com/to...

5/5/2008 Brad "Wow has yelp changed" B. says:

Sorry Amy that was pretty generic. I work for a company that does restaurant remodel and refurbishing work throughout the bay area. We have worked in numerous places that are currently charging the surcharge for health insurance.

5/5/2008 Post Hummus "Yelper" Y. says:

How does one apply for this free healthcare and what does it cover?  I tried searching for the site to sign up but to no avail.

5/6/2008 Amy "Diva" A. says:

Bob S,

See http://www.healthysanf... or http://www.sfgov.org/s... for an explanation of how this works.

You get the insurance through your employer if you work in San Francisco for a company with more than 20 employees and you work more than 10 hours a week.  It's applicable to all industries, not just restaurants.  I'm bringing it up in regards to restaurants because that's where I've seen consumers pay surcharges to cover it.  My guess is that it's only a manner of time before other retail businesses do it too.

5/6/2008 Kate "Polymer Goddess" B. says:

I think it is more honest to simply raise the prices.  the other night I went out to a restaurant and there was nothing on the menu that was obviously informing the customer as to the surcharge.  However, it was there on the bill when it arrived.  I wasn't too surprised since I had heard about these at other restaurants, but it did leave a bit of a bad taste in my mouth, like it was just kind of sneaky.

5/6/2008 Brad "Wow has yelp changed" B. says:

I agree with Kate...just raise prices and earmark that increase to healthcare. Notifying people of the increase is just a way to cause disagreement.

5/6/2008 Chris C. says:

+1 to what Frisco said.  There have been several strings about this.

And to recap what I said in those strings, if people want UHC, someone is going to have to pay for it because things cost money.

5/6/2008 c v. says:

The way I see, people will pay what they can afford to pay (duh).

If the surcharge raises the price of a meal beyond what people will pay, then its counter productive because then the restaurant will go out of business.  If the surcharge is added, and the clientle can still afford it, then what's the big deal?  The workers get healthcare, and the clients get a meal.

If you can't afford the extra 4%, then don't eat out.  If enough people can't afford it, then the market will adjust so that the restaurants can regain that lost business.

Its a non-issue really.  Shit costs money.  Eating out is a LUXURY.

5/6/2008 Lisa "I heart SF" A. says:

To me, it's not about not being able to afford the extra 4%. I work my 40 hrs a week. I pay my taxes and have my health care Ins taken out of my check. I then turn around and go out to dinner and now I am being charged an additional fee, to pay for my waiters health care. I just don't see how that is fair? Do I get to write their HC off my taxes? Do I get a reduced fee on my health care? It just does not make sense to me. If we are going to have UHC, shouldn't everyone pay the same amount, not just the folks in SF who want to go out to eat? And who is regulating the restaurants owners to make sure the whole 3-6% is being spent on HC?

5/6/2008 David D. says:

If it translates into actual health care, I'm for it.

5/7/2008 Amy "Diva" A. says:

Thanks for all your responses.  Here's the post!  http://digestthis.word...

5/7/2008

This account has been closed.

8/7/2008 Sheldon M. says:

it's total b.s.  if i'm forced to pay this surcharge, it's coming out of the tip.

8/7/2008 CINDY K. says:

If you think it's bs, rather than penalize the business and servers just doing what the law tells them, why don't you bill the SF Board of Supervisors for passing a stupid law.

8/7/2008 Sam "Samson" M. says:

I have nothing against it, but as Sheldon said: my tips are going to be weaker. Saying that.. I have always over tipped, just because most of the time the waiters are very nice, and their effort contibutes to my dining out experience. But if there are another 4% tacked on there, well thats part of the tip.

8/7/2008 Nathan F. says:

better yet, why don't you fight for univeral health care for all, like California Bill SB840 (which passed the state legislature last year, only to be vetoed by the Gov a few days after he received millions from the health insurance industry).

http://www.onecarenow....

8/7/2008

This account has been closed.

8/7/2008 Jen M. says:

I agree wholeheartedly with Lisa A.  

Luna Park charges $1 per guest for the health care thing.  They'll explain it with a little laminated handout if you ask about it, but it's still irritating.

8/7/2008 Kri "Kristin" B. says:

I haven't eaten anywhere with the surcharge yet, but personally, I'd be happy to pay it.  I've been without health coverage, have struggled to make payments, and have forgone treatment that would have made me a healthier person today... I don't think anyone should have to endure that pain or those tough decisions.  Especially not those people I see each week at the restaurants and shops in my neighborhood, who's good service and friendliness makes my day.

10/22/2008

This account has been closed.

10/25/2008 Ryan M. says:

I agree with Ashley R. It's not my fault people have low paying jobs that don't provide health care. I'm against the hcso by far. It's just another typical way of SF chasing businesses out of the city.

I am for health insurance being widely available to people at a very low cost; but if SF is insisting on everyone having some form of insurance/$ made available to them, then the city needs to fund it, not force businesses to do so. As a businessman, I can't believe some of these restaurants and businesses are letting people know that there is an additional XX% charge added to bill for SF Health Care Ordinance. That's just bad and ignorant business! What it tells me as a customer is that they obviously don't provide any type of benefits to their employees. From the customer stand point, I find that to be bad for the company. From my business view, I definitely understand their issue with it, but why in the hell would you want your current and potential long term customers to know you are a cheap boss/business owner who obviously doesn't provide benefits? I understand health insurance is extremely expensive and by far kills business. Unfortunately, it's one the major reasons large corporations outsource their service to other countries.

Rather than letting the world know the company doesn't provide benefits by displaying the additional charge on the receipts, a company should simply include it in the cost of doing business and mark the prices up slightly to cover it. If the product and service is good, I am more than happy to pay a little extra for the product.  I (and I'm sure most people) want it inclusive in the price rather than an additional separate fee. All I should know  by means of the reciept is that I paid a certain amount of money for a product or service. I don't want to know what portion of what I paid went to hcso or any other special fees such as atm/credit card transactions.

4/1/2009 Constance S. says:

I just paid 3% for the H/C surcharge.... to buy make-up! That's ontop of 9.5% SF sales tax.
More reason to buy online. Sorry folks, but a girls got to do what a girls got to do.
Can you say........... http://AMAZON.com?