Getting a Form 1095-B instead of a Form 1095-A means your health coverage came from somewhere other than the Health Insurance Marketplace, and your federal tax filing is simpler because of it. There is no Premium Tax Credit to reconcile, no Form 8962 to complete, and nothing from the 1095-B to enter on your return. The form is a receipt confirming you had qualifying coverage, and the IRS already has its own copy from your insurer.1Internal Revenue Service. Questions and Answers About Health Care Information Forms for Individuals
Why You Got a 1095-B and Not a 1095-A
The form you receive depends on where your coverage came from, not on any choice you made at tax time. A 1095-A goes only to people who enrolled through a state or federal Marketplace, and its purpose is to supply the numbers needed to calculate or reconcile the Premium Tax Credit.2Internal Revenue Service. About Form 1095-A, Health Insurance Marketplace Statement A 1095-B confirms qualifying coverage but carries no subsidy data.3Internal Revenue Service. About Form 1095-B, Health Coverage
You typically receive a 1095-B if your coverage came from private insurance bought directly from an insurer rather than through the Marketplace, Medicaid or CHIP, Medicare Part A, TRICARE (for retirees, annuitants, former spouses, and other beneficiaries), or a small self-insured employer with fewer than 50 full-time employees.4Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Forms 1094-B and 1095-B 20255Medicare. Qualifying Health Coverage Notice and IRS Form 1095-B The form lists each covered household member by name and Social Security number, along with the specific months of coverage.
What to Do at Tax Time With Only a 1095-B
Very little. If a 1095-B is your only health coverage form, you don’t enter its data into your tax software, you don’t attach it to your return, and you don’t file Form 8962.1Internal Revenue Service. Questions and Answers About Health Care Information Forms for Individuals Keep it with your records.
You also don’t need to wait for it before filing. The IRS is explicit: file your return as you normally would even if the 1095-B hasn’t arrived. It may help you confirm which months you had coverage, but it isn’t a required document for completing your return.6Internal Revenue Service. Questions and Answers About Health Care Information Forms for Individuals – Section: Must I Wait to File Until I Receive These Forms
At the federal level, there is no financial penalty for lacking health insurance. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act reduced the shared responsibility payment to zero starting with the 2019 tax year, and it has stayed at zero every year since.7Internal Revenue Service. Questions and Answers on the Individual Shared Responsibility Provision So even if your 1095-B shows a gap in coverage, you won’t owe anything extra to the IRS because of it.
If You Received Both a 1095-A and a 1095-B
People often change coverage mid-year: Marketplace insurance for a few months, then a job with employer coverage, or the reverse. In that case, you’ll get both forms, and the 1095-A controls how you file.
You must complete Form 8962 to reconcile the Premium Tax Credit for the months you had Marketplace coverage, even if you had non-Marketplace coverage for the rest of the year.8Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 8962 2025 – Section: Purpose of Form If advance credits were paid on your behalf during the Marketplace months and your income ended up higher than estimated, you may owe some of that credit back. If your income came in lower, your credit could grow. The 1095-A supplies the numbers for that calculation.9HealthCare.gov. How to Use Form 1095-A
The 1095-B adds no steps. It documents the non-Marketplace months for your records. Don’t attach either form to your return.1Internal Revenue Service. Questions and Answers About Health Care Information Forms for Individuals
Where a 1095-B Still Matters: State Mandates
The zero-dollar federal penalty is not the whole picture. Several states and the District of Columbia enforce their own individual insurance mandates with real financial consequences. If you live in California, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Rhode Island, or D.C. and your 1095-B shows gaps in coverage, you could owe a penalty on your state return.
Penalty structures vary, but the general pattern is the higher of a flat dollar amount per uninsured household member or a percentage of household income above a filing threshold. For the 2025 tax year (returns filed in spring 2026), flat-rate penalties for a single adult range roughly from $695 to $950 depending on the state, and the percentage calculation is typically 2.5% of household income above the filing threshold. Penalties for uninsured children are generally half the adult rate, and most states cap the total penalty at the average annual cost of a bronze-level Marketplace plan.
Vermont has a mandate on the books but imposes no financial penalty for noncompliance. If you live outside these jurisdictions, the state mandate question doesn’t apply to you. For residents of the states listed, the 1095-B is the primary proof of coverage on the state side, which makes holding onto it more important than the federal picture alone suggests.
Getting Your 1095-B
Health coverage providers are no longer required to automatically mail a paper 1095-B to every policyholder. Many post a notice on their website explaining that you can request a copy, which they must send within 30 days. If a provider does furnish the form proactively rather than waiting for a request, the deadline for 2025 coverage is March 2, 2026.10Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Forms 1094-B and 1095-B 2025 – Section: When To Furnish
Where to look depends on your coverage type. For private insurance, check your online member portal under tax documents. For Medicaid or CHIP, log into your state Medicaid account or contact your state’s Medicaid office. For Medicare Part A, request the form by calling 1-800-MEDICARE.5Medicare. Qualifying Health Coverage Notice and IRS Form 1095-B For a small self-insured employer plan, contact HR or the benefits administrator. Have your Social Security number and the tax year ready when you request.
Fixing Errors on a 1095-B
If your 1095-B shows wrong coverage dates, a misspelled name, or an incorrect Social Security number, contact the issuer as soon as you notice. Because the issuer files the same information with the IRS, an uncorrected error can create a mismatch between what the IRS has on file and what you report.11IRS.gov. Affordable Care Act – Return Preparer Best Practices Resolving Information Form 1095 Conflicts
The issuer files a corrected Form 1095-B with the IRS and sends you an updated copy marked “CORRECTED” at the top.4Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Forms 1094-B and 1095-B 2025 That’s the provider’s job, but you need to flag the error to start it. If the correction hasn’t come through by the time you’re ready to file, file your return using the coverage information you know is accurate. Since 1095-B data doesn’t feed any line on your federal return, the practical risk of a delayed correction is low federally. In a state with an insurance mandate, accurate coverage dates matter more, so push for the fix quickly.
How Long to Keep the Form
Keep your 1095-B for at least three years from the date you filed the return for that tax year. That aligns with the IRS’s general record-retention guidance and covers the standard period during which the agency can audit your return.12Internal Revenue Service. How Long Should I Keep Records If you live in a state with its own insurance mandate, check whether your state’s audit window is longer; some allow more than three years. The form takes up almost no space digitally, and having it beats reconstructing coverage history years later.