Beginning in 2019 the tax penalty, also known as the individual shared responsibility payment, no longer applies and as a result you no longer need an exemption to avoid the tax penalty if you opt out of enrolling in an ACA-qualifying major medical plan.[0]
The hardship exemption still applies to Catastrophic health plans if you are 30 years or older.[1]
From 2014 to 2019, under the Affordable Care Act, most people had to pay a fee if they didn’t have health coverage that qualified as “minimum essential coverage.” One exception was based on showing that a “hardship” prevented them from becoming insured. Some hardship exemptions include: homelessness, received a shutoff notice from a utility company, experienced domestic violence, death of a family member, filed for bankruptcy, etc.
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