Healthcare reform: What you need to know about the individual mandate
Q: What is the individual mandate? A: The individual mandate (also called “individual shared responsibility”) is a provision of the federal healthcare law that requires you, your dependent children, and anyone else you claim as a dependent on your federal income taxes to have health insurance or pay a tax penalty. This health insurance must be a certain type of health coverage specified by the federal government as “minimum essential coverage.” Q: What is minimum essential coverage? A: Minimum essential…