How to Get and Use IRS Form 1095: Versions, Filing, and Errors

IRS Form 1095 is the health insurance statement that reports who had coverage during the year and what kind. It comes in three versions. Form 1095-A goes to people who bought a plan through the Health Insurance Marketplace, and you need it in hand to file your federal return. Form 1095-B comes from insurers and government programs like Medicaid. Form 1095-C comes from large employers. The B and C versions are for your records; you do not have to wait for them to file.

Which Version You Will Receive

The form that lands in your mailbox depends on where your coverage came from. You may receive more than one in a single year if you changed jobs, moved from an employer plan to the Marketplace, or had a gap covered by Medicaid. Each form covers only the months the issuer had you enrolled.

Form 1095-A, Marketplace Statement

The Health Insurance Marketplace sends Form 1095-A to anyone who enrolled in a qualified health plan through a federal or state exchange. It reports your monthly enrollment premiums, the premium for the second lowest cost silver plan (SLCSP) in your area, and any advance premium tax credit payments the government made on your behalf to lower your monthly costs.¹ Its data feeds directly into Form 8962, where you reconcile your premium tax credit.²

Form 1095-B, Health Coverage

Health insurance companies, self-insured small employers, and government programs like Medicaid and CHIP send Form 1095-B to the people they cover. Every provider of minimum essential coverage must report enrollment details to the IRS and furnish a statement to the covered individual under 26 U.S.C. § 6055.³ The form lists who was covered and during which months. You do not need it to file your federal return.⁴

Form 1095-C, Employer-Provided Coverage

Applicable large employers, generally those with 50 or more full-time employees, use Form 1095-C to report what health coverage they offered and who enrolled, under 26 U.S.C. § 6056.⁵ If your employer sponsors a self-insured plan, the 1095-C also covers the § 6055 reporting function and shows your actual enrollment months.⁶ Keep it with your records.

When the Forms Should Arrive

The Marketplace is required to mail Form 1095-A by January 31 following the coverage year, and most recipients have it by mid-February.⁷ Your online account usually has it before the paper copy shows up.

Forms 1095-B and 1095-C run on a different timeline. For the 2025 tax year, insurers and employers must furnish these forms to individuals by March 2, 2026. Starting with tax year 2024 reporting, large employers gained a new option. Instead of automatically mailing Form 1095-C, they can post a clear notice on their website explaining that employees may request a copy, then provide the form within 30 days of any request (or by January 31, whichever is later).⁸ If your employer uses this alternative method, you will not receive a 1095-C in the mail unless you ask for one.

How to Get a Copy

Where you look depends on which form you need.

Form 1095-A: Log into your HealthCare.gov account (or your state marketplace account), select the application for the coverage year, choose “Tax Forms” from the menu, and download the PDF. If the form does not appear, call the Marketplace Call Center at 1-800-318-2596 (TTY: 1-855-889-4325).⁹
Form 1095-B: Check your insurer’s member portal. Most major carriers post these forms online each year. If you can’t find it, call the customer service number on your insurance card.
Form 1095-C: Start with your employer’s HR department or benefits portal. Under the new alternative delivery rules, you may need to formally request it if your employer switched to the website-notice method.

Using Form 1095-A at Tax Time

If you had Marketplace coverage with advance premium tax credit payments, you must file Form 8962 to reconcile what the government paid on your behalf against the credit you actually qualify for. Do not file your return until you have an accurate 1095-A.⁹

The reconciliation works like this. Form 8962 compares your actual premium tax credit, calculated from your household income and the SLCSP benchmark, against the advance payments already sent to your insurer. If the advance payments exceeded your actual credit, you owe the difference back, subject to repayment caps based on income. If the advance payments fell short, you receive the remaining credit as a larger refund or smaller tax bill.¹⁰

When transferring numbers from the 1095-A, round all amounts to the nearest whole dollar. For an annual calculation on line 11 of Form 8962, use the totals from line 33 of the 1095-A. For monthly calculations on lines 12 through 23, use the individual monthly figures from lines 21 through 32. Do not mix annual and monthly figures.¹⁰ Tax preparation software handles most of this mapping automatically once you enter the data from your 1095-A.

Do not attach Form 1095-A to your return. Keep it with your tax records.⁴

Filing Without a 1095-B or 1095-C

Unlike the 1095-A, Forms 1095-B and 1095-C are not prerequisites for filing. The IRS says explicitly: do not wait for either form to file your return.⁴ The federal individual mandate penalty was reduced to zero starting in 2019, so there is no federal tax consequence for lacking coverage. The issuers report the same data directly to the IRS, and you are not required to transfer anything from these forms onto your return.

Keep any 1095-B or 1095-C you receive with your tax records anyway. The information can help if the IRS questions your return, and it may be essential if you live in a state with its own insurance mandate.

State Insurance Mandates Still Matter

Although the federal penalty is zero, a handful of jurisdictions impose their own penalties on residents who go without coverage. California, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Rhode Island, and the District of Columbia all enforce individual mandates with financial consequences that vary by income and household size. Vermont requires coverage but does not impose a financial penalty for noncompliance. If you live in one of these places, your 1095-B or 1095-C may be the proof you need to avoid a state-level penalty when you file your state return.

Checking Your Forms for Errors

Verify the Social Security numbers, names, and coverage months on every 1095 form you receive. A wrong SSN or an incorrect coverage month can trigger an IRS mismatch notice or throw off your premium tax credit calculation.

For a 1095-A error, contact the Marketplace Call Center at 1-800-318-2596. The Marketplace will issue a corrected form with a “CORRECTED” checkbox marked at the top. Use only the corrected version for Form 8962, discard the original, and ignore any form marked “VOID” entirely.¹⁰ If you already filed using the incorrect 1095-A, you may need to amend your return once the corrected form arrives.¹¹

For errors on a 1095-B or 1095-C, contact your insurer or employer’s HR department directly. Because these forms do not feed into a tax credit calculation, the correction matters less for your federal return, but it can still matter for state mandate compliance and your own records.

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Internal Revenue Service. Form 1095-A, Health Insurance Marketplace Statement
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Internal Revenue Service. About Form 1095-A, Health Insurance Marketplace Statement
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Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 US Code 6055 – Reporting of Health Insurance Coverage
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Internal Revenue Service. Questions and Answers About Health Care Information Forms for Individuals
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Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 US Code 6056 – Certain Employers Required To Report on Health Insurance Coverage
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Internal Revenue Service. Questions and Answers About Information Reporting by Employers on Form 1094-C and Form 1095-C
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HealthCare.gov. If You Had a Marketplace Plan With the Premium Tax Credit
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Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Forms 1094-C and 1095-C
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HealthCare.gov. How to Use Form 1095-A, Health Insurance Marketplace Statement
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Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 8962
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Internal Revenue Service. Corrected, Incorrect or Voided Form 1095-A