Final answer:
The Minimum Essential Coverage does not override the individual mandate; instead, it refers to the type of coverage that meets the individual mandate's requirements. The individual mandate penalizes those without insurance and was upheld as constitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2012.
Step-by-step explanation:
The Minimum Essential Coverage (MEC) overrides the individual mandate is: 2) No.
An explanation regarding this matter requires understanding the individual mandate provision of the 2010 U.S. healthcare reform, specifically the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The mandate required that everyone should have insurance or pay a penalty (option c). However, the MEC is a term that refers to the types of health coverage that qualify as sufficient under the mandate; it is not a separate entity that could override the mandate, but rather part of the provision's criteria.
In 2012, in the National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius case, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the individual mandate as a constitutional exercise of Congress's power to tax. It is noteworthy that the tax penalties under the individual mandate were reduced to $0 at the federal level in 2019, essentially nullifying the financial consequence of not having health insurance.