Massachusetts is largely shielded from a key provision of the sweeping tax bill approved by Congress on Wednesday, a measure that guts the requirement that Americans obtain health insurance or pay a penalty.

This state has its own mandate that individuals sign up for insurance, which went into effect a decade ago. That rule remains in effect, state officials, health care advocates, and insurers stressed Wednesday — three days before the deadline for individuals in Massachusetts to obtain coverage for Jan. 1.

 

Massachusetts, in 2006, was the first state to pass a law mandating universal health coverage, under then-governor Mitt Romney, a Republican. The idea behind the mandate is that insurance markets need a mix of healthy and sick people to spread the costs of care.

More than 97 percent of Bay State residents have health insurance, according to the US Census Bureau — the highest rate of insurance in the country.

Consumers buying insurance on the state’s insurance exchange, called the Massachusetts Health Connector, have until Saturday to select a plan to go into effect in January. They have until Jan. 23 to select coverage that begins in February.

Most Massachusetts residents don’t buy plans on the Connector and get insurance through their employers instead. The deadlines to sign up for employer coverage vary.

About 50,000 state residents are subject to a penalty every year because they don’t have health insurance, according to Connector officials. The maximum penalty for these people in Massachusetts is $1,152 per year.

Audrey Gasteier, chief of policy and strategy at the Connector, said officials at the state agency will monitor how the federal tax law affects insurance coverage and help inform consumers that the mandate to obtain insurance still exists in Massachusetts.

“It’s easy to imagine that consumers could get confused about national news they’re hearing about the mandate going away,” she said.

The Connector is spending $1.1 million on advertising this year to encourage consumers to sign up for health coverage. In addition, it is spending $1.6 million to employ workers who help consumers enroll in health plans.

A group that represents health insurers — which gained new customers from the state and federal insurance mandates — said Wednesday that Massachusetts officials should do more to remind consumers about the insurance rules here.

“The bottom line for Massachusetts is we have the individual mandate in place, and that’s a good thing,” said Lora M. Pellegrini, president of the Massachusetts Association of Health Plans. “But we’ll have to see over the next several months how people respond.”

 

Priyanka Dayal McCluskey can be reached at priyanka.mccluskey@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter @priyanka_dayal.