The Affordable Care Act (ACA), signed into law in 2010, was designed to make health insurance coverage more affordable for Americans through the creation of tax subsidies. The ACA made having health insurance mandatory; not having it means you will incur a tax penalty.
Affordable Care Act’s Coverage Mandate
Under the ACA, also called Obama care, Americans who were not otherwise with creditable coverage would trigger a tax penalty; at the same time, the ACA allowed for the creation of a premium tax credit to help Americans offset some of the cost of getting health insurance through the healthcare marketplace.
In January 2019 the rule changed, when the tax penalty mandate for health insurance was eliminated. Americans who choose not to maintain health insurance for themselves or their family members in 2019 and beyond won’t be penalized at tax time.