SACRAMENTO – Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones announced that a bill he sponsored to significantly increase payments for past due child support payments through a mandatory Insurance Payment Intercept Program has been signed by Gov. Jerry Brown.

Assembly Bill 2802, authored by Assemblymember Laura Friedman, of Glendale, establishes the Insurance Payment Intercept Program, which will require insurance companies to participate in a program matching individuals behind on child support payments with their insurance claims to verify any insurance payments are first used to pay past-due child support.

The bill will likely lead to tens of millions in payments of previously unpaid child support to parents with children owed child support.

"Billions of dollars in unpaid child support are owed to families across the state and similar programs have proven successful in several other states," said Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones. "That's why I've been working the past few years to create a program in California to make sure that child support is paid. AB 2802 provides a critical mechanism to make sure kids and families receive the child support they are owed. I thank the Governor for signing this bill and Assemblymember Friedman for so effectively championing it in the Legislature."

Child support is critical for the wellbeing of eligible families. Unfortunately, most families are not receiving all of the support they are owed.

In California alone, the total amount of unpaid child support is nearly $18 billion and over $116 billion in unpaid child support is owed to families across the country.

California is joining seven other states with successful mandatory programs: New Jersey, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Texas and Oregon. The bill will go into effect Jan. 1, 2020.