The federal individual-mandate penalty became $0 in 2019.
The Affordable Care Act’s individual shared responsibility provision originally required most people to have minimum essential health coverage, qualify for an exemption, or make a payment when filing a federal tax return. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, enacted on December 22, 2017, reduced that federal payment to zero for months beginning after December 31, 2018. As a result, 2019 was the first tax year with a zero-dollar federal penalty.
This change did not repeal every part of the Affordable Care Act, nor did it mean that health insurance was suddenly free or universally optional. The statutory coverage provision remained in federal law, but the federal government could no longer collect a positive individual payment for going uninsured. States can also impose their own health-coverage requirements or penalties; California, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Rhode Island, and the District of Columbia have had their own approaches.
The federal penalty still applied for earlier years, including 2018. That is why 2019 is the key date, rather than 2017, 2020, or 2021: the law was enacted in 2017, but its zero-dollar effect began for coverage months in 2019.