For plan years through 2018, if you can afford health insurance but choose not to buy it, you may pay a fee called the individual Shared Responsibility Payment. (The fee is sometimes called the “penalty,” “fine,” or “individual mandate.”)

Starting with the 2019 plan year (for which you’ll file taxes in April 2020), the Shared Responsibility Payment no longer applies.

The law stops health plans from limiting both annual and lifetime coverage limits for essential health benefits.

Regardless of how sick you may get, your health plan cannot cancel your coverage or place a dollar limit on your essential health benefits.

1.  Ambulatory patient services  (Outpatient care you receive without being admitted to a hospital)

2.  Emergency services  (Care for conditions that if not immediately treated could result in a serious disability or death)

3.  Hospitalization (Care you receive as a patient in a hospital, such as surgery and tests administered during your stay)

4.  Maternity and newborn care (Care women receive before and after their baby is born)

5.  Prescription drugs (Drugs prescribed by a doctor to treat an acute illness)

6.  Laboratory services (Tests administered to help a doctor diagnose a medical condition and monitor effectiveness of treatment)

7.  Pediatric services, including oral and vision care

8.  Preventive and wellness services and chronic disease management

9.  Mental Health and substance use disorder services, including behavioral health treatment

10.  Rehabilitative and habilitative services and devices