The recent passage of national healthcare reform should be viewed as the beginning of a process with more questions than answers. The details of regulation will take 1 to 2 years to finalize, which is why implementation is spread over a 5 year period. Attached is a detailed summary of initial information provided by the National Restaurant Association. Highlights include the 30 hour minimum for qualified employees.

How will national reform impact the GGRA litigation challenging the Health Care Security Ordinance? The U.S. Supreme Court may have been waiting to make a decision on our ERISA challenge to San Francisco's employer mandate until the national healthcare reform was finalized. The federal program does nothing to weaken our challenge. In fact, it may help our challenge as businesses should be focused on meeting the complicated national mandate rather than being forced to address a series of local mandates.

The City of San Francisco has announced the intention to continue the HCSO, citing the need for the local program. Please review the SFGate pdf. With the passage of national reform we believe we are again "ripe" for a decision accepting our case at the Supreme Court.