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Health Care Working Group Begins Meetings

The Taxi Commission has appointed a Health Care Working Group to make recommendations to the commission on a taxi driver health care plan. The commission is expected to propose a plan to the Board of Supervisors by April 1.
At its first meeting on Oct. 17, the group elected Commissioner Tom Oneto as its chair. In addition to Oneto, voting members of the working group are Commission President Paul Gillespie; Ruach Graffis, United Taxicab Workers; Dennis Korkos, Medallion Holders Ass'n.; and Luxor Cab President John Lazar.
Seven non-voting members have also been chosen to provide information and expertise to the working group. They are: Lane Kasselman, Mayor's Office; Todd Rydstrom, Controller's Office (Peg Stevenson as alternate); Deputy City Attorney Tom Owen; Jim Soos, Department of Public Health (DPH); Ellen Kaiser, San Francisco Health Plan; Ken Jacobs, Institute of Industrial Relations; and Carrie Winsten and Ilene Levinson, Dublin Insurance Services, sharing one seat.
At the initial meeting, Soos reported on a DPH study of options for covering cab drivers through the city-sponsored San Francisco Health Plan. He also reported on the city's recently enacted Health Access Plan for San Francisco residents and workers employed in the city.
. Working group meetings will be held from November through February on the first and third Tuesdays of each month. They will take place in City Hall, Room 201, except for the Nov. 7 meeting, which will be held in Room 421. The public is invited, and public comment is allowed.