An individual mandate is a requirement by law that certain persons purchase or otherwise obtain a good or service. ACA imposes a health insurance mandate to take effect in 2014. In a nutshell, if an employee does not obtain or offered medical coverage through the employer, they must obtain coverage through the exchange. If the employee does not obtain coverage, then there is a penalty incurred when filing their yearly tax returns. This penalty in theory is to supplement the revenues the Exchange will lose due to the employee not obtaining coverage. If you would like more information, Simply, Let us help!