California IN BRIEF : SAN FRANCISCO : Officials Confident on Health Plan Costs

Despite concern over the potential costs of AIDS care, officials said they are confident that providing health insurance for the domestic partners of unmarried city workers will not lead to a budget crisis. San Francisco took a decisive step toward becoming the largest city in the nation to offer the coverage when the Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a new health plan. Mayor Art Agnos estimated that 1,000 unmarried heterosexual couples and 1,000 homosexual couples will be added to the 47,000-member city health system. In addition, he said 1,350 children in both heterosexual and homosexual families will be made eligible. Insurance companies representing the six health plans offered to San Francisco workers have asked that $2 million be taken from the city’s health service reserves to cover the risks of new members. A spokesman for Agnos, however, disputed the insurance companies’ estimates.