Over 3 years ago the legislature passed a law to "help" lower-income families by fining (taxing) all individuals that did not have health insurance. The intent was to assist individuals that could not afford this insurance with funds from this fine. In typical California style, NONE of these funds have yet to be used for this purpose. Most of the people who are being fined are the same people who need the money to pay for these services, yet the money languishes unspent in the general fund. The amount collected in the first 2 years is estimated at $1.3 BILLION. To add insult to injury, the state also eliminated the subsidies that had been in place in California for this very problem of not affording the same insurance. The state argues that they must save the funds for "when people need them" which is directly opposed to its purported use when originally enacted.
Thanks to the Southern California News Group for uncovering this ridiculous situation.
