# Does the US ACA individual mandate extend to US citizens not residing in the US?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-us-aca-individual-mandate-extend-to-us-citizens-not-residing-in-the-us/776252>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [January 3, 2017, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-us-aca-individual-mandate-extend-to-us-citizens-not-residing-in-the-us/776252 "2017-01-03T19:46:15Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Mops](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mops/32/16494_2.png) [@Mops](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mops)\
**Post date:** [January 3, 2017, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-us-aca-individual-mandate-extend-to-us-citizens-not-residing-in-the-us/776252/1 "2017-01-03T19:46:15Z")

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With reference to [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=815344) that I don’t want to sidetrack:

The question of that thread is about a dual US/Mexican citizen, residing in Mexico, who has to pay “$300 a month ACA premiums.”

I assume that sum is either the cost of ACA-mandated health insurance (that the person has to take instead of a cheaper alternative, e.g. Mexican health insurance or possibly no insurance), or the penalty for not having insurance.

That would mean that US citizens residing abroad are subject to the ACA mandate. Is that so?

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**Author:** ![Mops](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mops/32/16494_2.png) [@Mops](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mops)\
**Post date:** [January 3, 2017, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-us-aca-individual-mandate-extend-to-us-citizens-not-residing-in-the-us/776252/2 "2017-01-03T19:53:19Z")

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Just when I wrote this post :smack: the question has been addressed by **Dewey Finn** ’s post. I’ll ask the mods to close this thread.