Ninth Circuit Upholds San Francisco’s Pay-or-Play Healthcare Ordinance

Marc Lifsher reports in the Los Angeles Times on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals’ decision to uphold the San Francisco municipal healthcare ordinance. The ordinance, which took effect in January 2008, is “pay or play”: employers with 20 or more employees (50 for not-for-profits) are required either to “pay” for health care insurance or “play” by the rules of the city health care fund. Although the plan is strictly local, the fact that it has been upheld is expected to boost efforts to legislate statewide universal health insurance system.