What does Form 1095-B show?
Form 1095-B, Health Coverage, is an information return that reports which months each covered person had minimum essential coverage (MEC) during the year. The coverage provider files it with the IRS, using Form 1094-B as the transmittal, and sends a copy to the person responsible for the coverage. It is not a bill, and it doesn’t change anyone’s tax refund.
The reporting requirement comes from section 6055 of the Internal Revenue Code, which applies to every person that provides MEC to an individual during a calendar year. MEC includes government programs, employer-sponsored plans, individual market plans and other coverage the Department of Health and Human Services designates. It does not include coverage made up only of excepted benefits, such as standalone dental or vision, workers’ compensation or coverage for a single disease.
Who issues Form 1095-B?
The provider of the coverage issues Form 1095-B. Which provider that is depends on how the coverage is funded and how big the employer is.
| Coverage | Who issues Form 1095-B |
|---|---|
| Insured coverage, including fully insured employer plans of any size and individual policies bought outside the Marketplace | The insurance company |
| Self-insured plan of a small employer (not an applicable large employer) | The employer, as plan sponsor |
| Self-insured plan of an applicable large employer | Usually no 1095-B. The employer reports coverage in Part III of Form 1095-C, and may use Form 1095-B for nonemployees enrolled in the plan |
| Medicare Part A, Medicaid, CHIP, TRICARE and VA health care | The government agency that runs the program |
| Other coverage HHS designates as MEC | The provider of that coverage |
Two points trip up employers. First, a small employer with a fully insured plan doesn’t file Form 1095-B; the carrier does. Second, an applicable large employer (50 or more full-time employees, including full-time equivalents, in the prior year) with a self-insured plan reports enrollees on Form 1095-C, not Form 1095-B. For a side-by-side look at the two employer forms, see Form 1095-B vs. 1095-C.
Insurers don’t report Medicaid, CHIP, Medicare or Basic Health Program coverage they administer for a government program, and they generally don’t report Marketplace plans. Marketplace coverage appears on Form 1095-A instead.
Line 8 origin-of-policy codes.
Line 8 of Form 1095-B uses a letter code to show where the coverage came from. The IRS instructions list seven codes.
| Code | Origin of the policy |
|---|---|
| A | Small Business Health Options Program (SHOP) |
| B | Employer-sponsored coverage, except an individual coverage HRA |
| C | Government-sponsored program |
| D | Individual market insurance |
| E | Multiemployer plan |
| F | Other designated minimum essential coverage |
| G | Employer-sponsored coverage that is an individual coverage HRA |
Most employer plans use code B. A small employer that offers an individual coverage HRA uses code G.
What else is on the form?
Beyond line 8, Form 1095-B reports four groups of information:
- The responsible individual: name, address and SSN or other TIN. A date of birth goes on the form only if the TIN is blank.
- The employer, if the coverage is employer-sponsored insured coverage: name, address and EIN.
- The issuer or other coverage provider: name, EIN, address and a contact phone number.
- Each covered individual: name, SSN or other TIN (or date of birth if no TIN is entered), and a checkbox for each month of coverage or for all 12 months.
Copies sent to individuals may show only the last four digits of an SSN or TIN. Truncated numbers are not allowed on the returns filed with the IRS.
Who receives Form 1095-B?
The responsible individual receives Form 1095-B. That is the person who, based on their relationship to the covered people or whose name is on the coverage, should get the statement. It is usually the primary taxpayer: the employee or former employee for employer coverage, the primary subscriber for insured coverage, a parent when only minor children are covered, or the uniformed services sponsor for TRICARE.
One form covers the whole family on that coverage. A person can receive more than one Form 1095-B in the same year if they had coverage from more than one source.
Do you need Form 1095-B to file taxes?
Form 1095-B is not needed to file a federal return. The federal individual shared responsibility payment was reduced to zero for tax year 2019 and every year since, so individuals no longer report coverage or pay a federal penalty for going without it.
The form still matters at the state level. California, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Rhode Island and the District of Columbia have their own individual mandates with a penalty for going without coverage, and residents report coverage on their state returns. Vermont also requires residents to report coverage, but its mandate carries no penalty. Massachusetts uses its own state form, the MA 1099-HC, alongside the federal forms.
States with a mandate often require coverage providers, including small self-insured employers, to report coverage to the state on their own forms and deadlines. Check each state’s tax agency before filing season.
How does the furnish-upon-request option work?
A coverage provider doesn’t have to mail Form 1095-B automatically. It can instead post a clear, conspicuous notice on its website that individuals may request a copy, then send the form when asked. This option existed for Form 1095-B before 2024, first under IRS notices and then in final regulations (Treasury Decision 9970), because the federal individual penalty is $0.
The Paperwork Burden Reduction Act (Pub. L. 118-167, December 2024) wrote the option into section 6055 itself and added the same option for Form 1095-C under section 6056. IRS Notice 2025-15 sets the rules:
- Post the notice in a location on your website that all responsible individuals can reasonably reach, in plain language, with an email address, a mailing address and a phone number for requests.
- Post it on time. For tax year 2025, the notice had to be up by March 2, 2026, and stay posted through October 15, 2026.
- Furnish on request by the later of January 31 or 30 days after the request. Electronic delivery requires the person’s consent.
The Employer Reporting Improvement Act (Pub. L. 118-168), passed the same month, made two other changes for returns due after December 31, 2024. A provider that can’t collect a TIN may report a covered person’s full name and date of birth instead. And once a person affirmatively consents to receive the statement electronically, that consent continues until they revoke it in writing.
Deadlines and penalties.
Form 1095-B uses the same calendar as Form 1095-C. The furnishing deadline is January 31 with an automatic 30-day extension, so copies are effectively due in early March. Returns go to the IRS by February 28 on paper or March 31 electronically, moved to the next business day on a weekend.
| Tax year 2025 (filed in 2026) | Tax year 2026 (filed in 2027) | |
|---|---|---|
| Furnish to individuals | March 2, 2026 | March 2, 2027 |
| File with the IRS on paper | March 2, 2026 | March 1, 2027 |
| File with the IRS electronically | March 31, 2026 | March 31, 2027 |
The tax year 2026 dates apply the same rules to the 2027 calendar. Confirm them against the IRS instructions for 2026 once they are final.
A provider that files 10 or more information returns in the aggregate, counting Forms W-2, 1099 and other information returns together, must file electronically. For returns and statements for tax year 2025, the penalty for a late or incorrect return is $340 per return and $340 per statement, up to $4,098,500 a year for each, with lower caps for small businesses. Intentional disregard raises the penalty to $680 each with no cap. The IRS can waive penalties for reasonable cause.
How do you get or fix a copy?
If you expected a Form 1095-B and didn’t get one, check the issuer’s website or member portal, then contact the issuer to request a copy. Many issuers no longer mail the form unless you ask. You can file your federal return without it, using your own records of when you were covered.
If the form is wrong or a covered family member is missing, contact the issuer named on the form. The issuer files a corrected return with the IRS and sends you a corrected statement.
For employers: what to check each year.
- Confirm who files. Fully insured: the carrier. Self-insured and under 50 full-time employees: you. Self-insured and an applicable large employer: Form 1095-C instead.
- Collect TINs. Ask enrollees for SSNs for every covered person, and use dates of birth only where you can’t get one.
- Decide how you will furnish. Mail or electronic delivery with consent, or the furnish-upon-request notice under Notice 2025-15.
- Check state rules. If you have employees in a mandate state, confirm whether you or your carrier must report to the state.
- Calendar the deadlines. Furnishing in early March, paper filing by February 28 and electronic filing by March 31, with weekend adjustments.
Ethos Benefits helps employers sort out who files what and keep these deadlines on the calendar through its ACA compliance service.