Will I Be Forced To Have Health Insurance? 
Under the Affordable Care Act , for the first time in U.S. history , the federal government now requires to purchase health insurance . The requirement that everyone buy insurance , also known as a mandate , is a key component for the law to expand coverage to be able to work . To get coverage for sick people , insurers need as many healthy people in the pool of customers as possible , so the cost of the sick are spread amongst many policy holders . Starting this year , the insurance industry will have to cover millions of new customers who may have health problems and turn no one away , resulting in the government 's guarantee the insurers millions of new , healthy customers . However , under certain circumstances , you may not have to make the individual responsibility payment . This is called an exemption , which you may qualify for an exemption if : Youre uninsured for less than 3 months of the year The lowest-priced coverage available to you would cost more than 8 % of your household income You dont have to file a tax return because your income is too low Youre a member of a tribe or eligible for services through an Indian Health Services provider Youre a member of a recognized health care sharing ministry Youre a member of a recognized religious sect with religious objections to insurance , including Social Security and Medicare Youre incarcerated , and not awaiting the disposition of charges against you Youre not lawfully present in the U.S. Hardship exemptions If you have any of the circumstances below that affect your ability to purchase health insurance coverage , you may qualify for a hardship exemption : You were homeless . You were evicted in the past 6 months or were facing eviction or foreclosure . You received a shut-off notice from a utility company . You recently experienced domestic violence . You recently experienced the death of a close family member . You experienced a fire , flood , or other natural or human-caused disaster that caused substantial damage to your property . You filed for bankruptcy in the last 6 months . You had medical expenses you couldnt pay in the last 24 months . You experienced unexpected increases in necessary expenses due to caring for an ill , disabled , or aging family member . You expect to claim a child as a tax dependent whos been denied coverage in Medicaid and CHIP , and another person is required by court order to give medical support to the child . In this case , you do not have the pay the penalty for the child . As a result of an eligibility appeals decision , youre eligible for enrollment in a qualified health plan -LRB- QHP -RRB- through the Marketplace , lower costs on your monthly premiums , or cost-sharing reductions for a time period when you werent enrolled in a QHP through the Marketplace . You were determined ineligible for Medicaid because your state didnt expand eligibility for Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act . Your individual insurance plan was cancelled and you believe other Marketplace plans are unaffordable . You experienced another hardship in obtaining health insurance . 