The individual mandate – the requirement that virtually all Americans obtain government-approved health insurance or pay a penalty — has long been the least popular part of the Affordable Care Act. Narrowly surviving a Supreme Court challenge in 2012, the mandate’s associated penalty has since technically been a “tax,” as it was only by the taxing power that the provision was found constitutional.

It would only be appropriate now for congressional leaders to repeal this mandate, or at least reduce the “tax” amount to $0, via tax reform legislation.