§6055 Reporting of Health Insurance Coverage

Summary

People who provide minimum essential health coverage must file a report with the IRS and give each covered person a statement. The report must use the IRS form and include the primary insured’s name, address, and tax ID and the names (and tax IDs) of others covered. It must show the dates people had coverage. For health plans, it must say if the plan is a qualified health plan sold through an Exchange and, for those plans, list any advance payments of premium tax credits or cost‑sharing reductions. Employer group plans must also list the employer’s name, address, employer ID number, and any employer share of the premium. If the filer cannot get a person’s tax ID, the filer may use that person’s full name and birth date instead. The filer must give each covered person a written statement with the same information and a contact phone number by January 31 of the year after the coverage year. Instead of automatically sending the statement, the filer can post a clear notice that people may request it and then must send it by January 31 or within 30 days of the request, whichever is later. If a person previously agreed in writing to get the statement electronically, that counts unless they revoke the consent in writing. Government units must follow the same rules. Minimum essential coverage means what is defined in law.