How did the individual mandate require most Americans to obtain health insurance?

The individual mandate was a provision of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act that required most Americans to maintain a minimum level of health insurance starting in 2014. Individuals who failed to obtain this coverage were required to pay a financial penalty.12

While the government initially argued that the mandate was a valid exercise of Congressional power under the commerce clause, the U.S. Supreme Court ultimately upheld the mandate in the Affordable Care Act cases by interpreting it as a valid exercise of Congress’s taxing power. The Court concluded that the payment required of those who did not purchase insurance was functionally equivalent to a tax, thereby bringing it within the scope of constitutional authority.32