The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(a) The individual mandate imposed by this title, and the penalty imposed by Part 32 (commencing with Section 61000) of the Revenue and Taxation Code, are necessary to protect the compelling state interests of:
(1) Protecting the health and welfare of the state’s residents.
(2) Ensuring access to affordable health care coverage in this state.
(3) Ensuring a stable and well-functioning health insurance market in this state.
(b) There is compelling evidence that, without an effective mandate on individuals to secure health coverage, there would be substantial instability in health insurance markets, including higher prices and the possibility of areas without any insurance available.
(c) Ensuring the health of insurance markets is a responsibility reserved for states under the federal McCarran-Ferguson Act (15 U.S.C. Sec. 1011 et seq.) and other federal law.
(Added by Stats. 2019, Ch. 38, Sec. 10. (SB 78) Effective June 27, 2019.)