Under the Affordable Care Act, tax payers without health insurance were penalized up to 2.5% of the household’s taxable income. That penalty is now reduced to zero under the new tax act of 2017. So this year if you are uninsured you won’t face a Federal penalty on your IRS Form 1040. HOWEVER, California, which jumped on board early to fully support the new healthcare initiative, has implemented its own penalty system which basically results in the same financial hit. So get insured if you can. A broken arm runs about $20,000 if you don’t have an insurance company negotiating down the payment rates. Which one of us is not at risk of tripping on a crack in the sidewalk and cracking our scull on the curb while texting on our phones?