What Is the Individual Mandate?

image ©iStockphoto/Tim McCaig

Definition

The individual mandate—officially called the individual shared responsibility provision—requires virtually all citizens and legal residents of the United States to have health insurance. This article will explain what the individual mandate is, how it was initially enforced, and why it's no longer an issue for the majority of Americans.

The individual mandate is part of the Affordable Care Act, and from 2014 through 2018, there was a financial penalty—assessed by the IRS—for people who didn't comply with the mandate, unless they were eligible for an exemption from the penalty.

Federal Mandate Penalty Reduced to $0 As of 2019

Under the terms of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act that Congress enacted in late 2017, the individual mandate penalty was eliminated starting in 2019. People who were uninsured in 2018 were still subject to the penalty when they filed their tax returns in early 2019, unless they were exempt.

But people who were uninsured in 2019 or a future year do not owe a penalty on their tax returns unless they're in a state that imposes its own penalty (this includes New Jersey, DC, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and California).

The ACA's individual mandate itself has not been repealed, so there does technically continue to be a requirement that nearly everyone maintains health insurance.

And the hardship exemption from the mandate is still important in terms of allowing people aged 30 and older to purchase catastrophic health insurance (without a hardship exemption, catastrophic plans can only be purchased by people under the age of 30). But there is no longer a federal penalty for non-compliance with the individual mandate.

(In addition to the states that have created their own individual mandates with associated penalties, Vermont has also created an individual mandate, which requires residents to indicate on their state tax return whether they have health coverage. But Vermont has not created a penalty for non-compliance, so the state's individual mandate is much the same as the federal government's: It exists, but is essentially toothless. Instead of a penalty, Vermont uses the data collected under the individual mandate's protocols in order to reach out to uninsured residents and connect them with available health coverage options.)

Background of the Individual Mandate and Associated Legal Challenges

The individual mandate has always been a controversial part of the Affordable Care Act. While the law was being debated in Congress, and in the years after it was enacted, opponents argued that the government shouldn’t be allowed to penalize people for not buying something. Challenges to the constitutionality of the individual mandate went all the way to the Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court decided the penalty imposed by the individual mandate was actually a tax on people who go without health insurance. Since the government has the right to tax its citizens, the Supreme Court decided the individual mandate was constitutional.

It was actually this argument that propelled Texas v. Azar (later called California v. Texas) through the court system, with the case resulting in the Supreme Court once again being faced with the question of the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act.

Attorneys general from 18 Republican-led states and 2 Republican governors sued to overturn the ACA on the grounds that since there is no longer a tax for being uninsured, the individual mandate is no longer constitutional. And because they argued that the mandate was not severable from the rest of the ACA, the plaintiffs called for the entire ACA to be overturned.

A federal district court judge in Texas sided with the plaintiffs in December 2018, ruling that the ACA should indeed be overturned once the individual mandate penalty was reduced to zero. The case was appealed, and the Trump administration declined to defend the ACA. So the task of defending the ACA was taken on by 21 states concerned that overturning the law would have disastrous consequences for Americans with pre-existing medical conditions.

A panel of judges from the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with the lower court in December 2019, ruling that the individual mandate was unconstitutional. But the panel sent the case back to the lower court to specify exactly which other provisions of the ACA ought to be overturned (despite the fact that the judge had ruled a year earlier that the entire ACA should be overturned). That essentially just delayed the case, leading to more uncertainty for insurers and the American public.

A group of Democratic-led states asked the Supreme Court to take up the case as soon as possible, instead of waiting for it to make its way back through the lower court. The Supreme Court initially declined to do so, but ultimately agreed to hear the case. Oral arguments were heard in November 2020, shortly after the election and the confirmation of Justice Amy Coney Barrett.

Soon after the Biden administration took office, the Department of Justice notified the Supreme Court that it had officially changed its position on the case, and would be defending the Affordable Care Act (this is the normal position for the Department of Justice, which is tasked with defending existing federal laws; the position taken by the Trump administration on this case had been quite unusual, but was not surprising given President Trump's opposition to the ACA).

The Supreme Court ultimately upheld the ACA in a ruling that was issued in June 2021. So although the individual mandate continues to have no federal penalty for non-compliance, the ACA is no longer in legal limbo as a result.

How the Individual Mandate Works

Some people are exempt from the individual mandate, but the majority of Americans fall under its mandate and were subject to a penalty for non-compliance if they were uninsured between 2014 and 2018. People who were uninsured—and who didn't qualify for an exemption—during that time frame had to pay the shared responsibility payment when they filed their federal income taxes.

In order to help people comply with the individual mandate, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) required the creation of health insurance exchanges, or marketplaces, where people can buy health insurance.

The ACA also provides for subsidies that keep premiums affordable for people with a household income that doesn't exceed 400% of the poverty level (from 2021 through 2025, that income cap has been eliminated due to the American Rescue Plan and the Inflation Reduction Act).

The law also provides subsidies that make out-of-pocket costs more affordable for people with household income that doesn't exceed 250% of the poverty level. For 2023 coverage, that amounts to $69,375 for a family of four in the continental U.S. (note that subsidy eligibility is always based on how a household's income compares with the prior year's poverty level numbers).

The ACA also called for the expansion of Medicaid to everyone with household incomes up to 138% of the poverty level, in order to provide access to very low-cost health care for low-income Americans. But the Supreme Court ruled that Medicaid expansion was optional, and 10 states still hadn't expanded Medicaid (or begun plans to do so) as of early 2023.

In nine of those states (all but Wisconsin), people with income below the poverty level are in the coverage gap, without any realistic access to health insurance. They were always exempt from the individual mandate penalty however, as there's a specific exemption for people who would have been eligible for Medicaid but who live in a state that hasn't expanded Medicaid.

(Georgia plans to partially expand Medicaid in mid-2023. The state is taking an approach that would be similar to Wisconsin's except for the fact that Georgia will have a work requirement. This will significantly decrease the number of people who gain eligibility for Medicaid under Georgia's new rules.)

How Many People Owed a Penalty?

In early 2016, the Internal Revenue Service reported that for the 2014 coverage year, a total of 7.9 million tax filers reported a total of $1.6 billion in shared responsibility provision penalties that averaged about $210 per tax filer.

On the other hand, there were 12.4 million tax filers who were also uninsured in 2014, but who claimed one of the exemptions and were therefore not subject to the penalty.

As more people gained health coverage in 2015, the number of people subject to the penalty declined. The IRS reported that 6.5 million people owed the penalty for being uninsured in 2015, but their penalties were considerably higher (an average of $470).

How Much Was the Penalty?

If you were uninsured and not eligible for an exemption, the penalty in 2018 (the last year that it was applicable) was the GREATER OF: 

  • 2.5% of your taxable household income, OR
  • $695 per uninsured adult, plus $347.50 per uninsured child, up to a maximum of $2,085 per family (this was to be adjusted annually for inflation beginning in 2017, but the IRS announced that the inflation adjustment would be $0 for both 2017 and 2018, and the penalty was eliminated altogether after the end of 2018).

The maximum penalty was equal to the national average cost of a bronze plan. The IRS published the national average bronze plan rate each summer. For 2018, it was $3,396 for a single individual and $16,980 for a family of five or more. This penalty would only have applied to a high-income household, however, as it takes a considerable income for 2.5% of it to reach those levels.

You can learn more about the specifics of the penalty in How Much Is the Health Insurance Penalty for an Individual? and How Much Is the Health Insurance Penalty for Families?

Also Known As: health insurance mandate, coverage mandate, individual shared responsibility

Summary

An individual mandate refers to a requirement that most people maintain health insurance. The ACA included a federal individual mandate (officially called a shared responsibility provision), and a handful of states also have their own individual mandates.

From 2014 through 2018, there was a federal penalty for non-compliance with the ACA's individual mandate, although some people qualified for exemptions from the penalty. Since 2019, there has not been a federal penalty for non-compliance with the individual mandate, although there are some states that impose a similar penalty using the state tax return.

A Word From Verywell

It's likely that you do not need to worry about an individual mandate. The federal individual mandate hasn't had a penalty for non-compliance since 2018. And there are only a few states—California, DC, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Rhode Island—where there's a state-based penalty for non-compliance with an individual mandate.

But the reasons for having health insurance go far beyond the question of whether the government will penalize you for not having coverage. Health insurance is an important way of protecting both your health and your financial security. By having health coverage, you won't find yourself in a situation where a medical provider refuses to treat you because you can't pay their bill (with health insurance, the out-of-pocket costs are limited, and providers will generally set up a payment plan for that amount, while they might not for an uninsured patient with no cap on out-of-pocket medical costs). And you won't find yourself trying to crowd-fund a six-figure medical bill. In short, health insurance is essential, regardless of whether the government requires you to have it.

15 Sources
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
  1. Congress.gov. H.R.1 - An Act to provide for reconciliation pursuant to titles II and V of the concurrent resolution on the budget for fiscal year 2018.

  2. Department of Vermont Health Access. Vermont Health Connect. Individual Mandate FAQ.

  3. Norris, Louise. healthinsurance.org. Vermont's individual mandate took effect in 2020, but without a penalty for non-compliance.

  4. Kaiser Family Foundation. Explaining Texas v. U.S.: a guide to the case challenging the ACA.

  5. Keith, Katie. Federal judge strikes down entire ACA; Law remains In effect. Health Affairs.

  6. Musumeci M. Explaining Texas v. U.S.: A guide to the 5th Circuit Appeal in the case challenging the ACA. Kaiser Family Foundation.

  7. United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. Ruling in Texas v. Azar/U.S.

  8. Leonard K. Supreme Court opens door to deciding Obamacare's fate ahead of 2020 election. Washington Examiner.

  9. Keith, Katie. Health Affairs. Biden Justice Department Formally Changes Positions in California v. Texas.

  10. Supreme Court of the United States. CALIFORNIA ET AL. v. TEXAS ET AL. CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT No. 19–840. Argued November 10, 2020—Decided June 17, 2021.

  11. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Newsroom. American Rescue Plan and the Marketplace.

  12. Kaiser Family Foundation. Status of State Action on the Medicaid Expansion Decision.

  13. Internal Revenue Service, Letter from IRS Commissioner John Koskinen to Congress, detailing preliminary data for the Affordable Care Act provisions.

  14. Koskinen J. Letter to members of Congress regarding 2016 tax filings related to Affordable Care Act provisions. Internal Revenue Service.

  15. Norris L. Will you owe a penalty under Obamacare?. Healthinsurance.org.

By Elizabeth Davis, RN
Elizabeth Davis, RN, is a health insurance expert and patient liaison. She's held board certifications in emergency nursing and infusion nursing.