When Republicans passed their historic tax reform package in late 2017, they also repealed the Affordable Care Act’s penalty on the uninsured, known as the individual mandate. Now Obamacare’s supporters are waging a nationwide campaign to revive this regressive and unpopular “tax.”

Democrats in Maryland launched the first salvo when they introduced legislation that would impose a financial penalty of up to at least $695 per person on anyone who decides not to purchase health insurance. Soon after, left-leaning legislators in California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Rhode Island, Washington, Minnesota, New Jersey and Vermont, as well as the District of Columbia have started to discuss new taxes on the uninsured.

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