I feel very sorry for folks as they were mostly too poor to buy health insurance, then forced to by law, and now must pay even more, or pay the “poor tax” and be penalized for not having it. . . what a nasty law.
Poor people are not penalized for not purchasing a policy if the premium would be greater than eight percent of income. The penalty/tax is waived. This all assumes they don’t qualify for Expanded Medicaid or full subsidy.