• What does the Plan do?
• What benefit plans are available?
• Who is involved in the Plan?
• Why were those particular businesses selected?
• What does the partnership mean to Chamber member agents and brokers?
• What is the relationship between the Chamber's Health Advantage Membership Plan and the City's Health Access Plan?
• Your materials mention that the Chamber Health Advantage Membership Plan includes consultations on Healthy Families. What is that?
• What is an HRA and how does it affect my business?
• How do I get more information on.
• The Chamber Health Advantage Membership Plan design?
• Specific details of the Plan available for Chamber member businesses?
• Information on how to involve your insurance agency in the Chamber Health Advantage Membership Plan?

Essentially, the new Chamber Health Advantage Membership Plan does the shopping for member businesses. By bundling services and offering the expertise needed to negotiate the often-bewildering health plan marketplace, the Chamber is making it easier to find the best option at the best price.

Chamber members will be able to choose between fully-insured PPO, HMO, high-deductible and self-funded medical, dental and vision plans offered by California's major carriers. In addition, members enrolled in the Plan will have access to free, Premium-Only Section 125 Plans, custom employee enrollment and education materials, and My HR View, an exclusive website with helpful information.

The Chamber was aided in development of the Chamber Health Advantage Membership Plan by SF Works, a program of the Chamber Foundation. After considerable investigation, the Chamber and SF Works selected a consortium of three leading companies with significant experience in health-care underwriting, employee-benefits consulting, and innovative administration. Partners in the program are:

CAL Insurance and Associates Inc., headed by Scott Hauge, president of Small Business California and a long-time small business advocate.

Baybenefits Insurance Services, a strategic benefits partner and insurance broker experienced in helping small enterprises find the best health care solution.

Ben-e-lect, a plan administrator that can offer turn-key, high-deductible plans that can save money for both employers and their employees. Ben-e-lect will be available through the CAL Insurance/ Baybenefits partnership and all other Chamber member brokers.

They were selected based on their commitment to providing Chamber members with value added service and choices after a lengthy RFP, interview and screening process by a committee made up of Chamber members and employees.

All Chamber member brokers are able to participate by offering the Ben-e-lect program to their customers and prospective customers. Additionally, those Chamber member agents and brokers who wish to be included can be added to a free listing of health insurance agents and brokers on the Chamber website.

Recently renamed Healthy San Francisco, the City's Health Access Program is intended to make healthcare services accessible and affordable to uninsured San Francisco residents. Healthy San Francisco is not insurance, but a reinvention of the City's healthcare safety net, intended to encourage and enable residents to access primary and preventive care.

The same legislation that created Healthy San Francisco mandates that medium and large size employers in San Francisco spend a minimum amount per hour for their employees, beginning in 2008. The health care contributions that count toward meeting the minimum spending requirement include: insurance, public programs for the uninsured such as Healthy San Francisco, health savings accounts, and direct reimbursements to employees for health expenses. Thus, participation in the Chamber Health Advantage Membership Plan is a way for businesses to meet the spending requirements and get more for their money.

We know that businesses are not always able to afford to contribute to health insurance for the children of their employees. However, employees are more likely to show up at work when their children are healthy. Thus, the Chamber's program partners will work with members to assess whether their employees' families qualify for publicly subsidized health insurance, including Healthy Families. Families with eligible children can access health insurance through Healthy Families for $4 to $12 a month per child up to a maximum of $36.

Health Reimbursement Accounts (HRAs) are an arrangement where the employer reimburses an employee directly for health expenses. Usually, an HRA is coupled with other insurance and employees are reimbursed only for expenses not covered by the plan.

Steve Falk, San Francisco Chamber of Commerce President (sfalk@sfchamber.com)

Chamber Health Advantage Membership Plan, 415-273-2212, www.sfccbenefits.com

Leslie Milloy, San Francisco Chamber of Commerce Vice President (lmilloy@sfchamber.com)