Need Your 1095-A?

I’m Christopher Horne, a licensed health insurance broker serving Florida, Texas, Arizona, Ohio, Michigan, Iowa, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Missouri, South Carolina, Tennessee, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Virginia. Every tax season I get the same calls: “My tax person says I need a 1095-A and I don’t have it.” This page is the answer I give — and if you’d rather I just walk you through it, text 1095 to 954-787-9118.

What Is Form 1095-A?

Form 1095-A is a tax statement from the Health Insurance Marketplace. It shows the months you (and your household) had Marketplace health coverage and how much advance premium tax credit — the monthly help toward your premium — was paid to your insurance company on your behalf. If you had Marketplace coverage at any point during the year, this is the form your tax preparer needs.

One thing up front: nothing on this page is tax advice. I’m an insurance broker, not a tax professional. I can help you find the form and keep your coverage straight. For how it changes your tax return, talk to your tax preparer.

Who Sends It — and Who Gets a Different Form

• 1095-A comes from the Marketplace (HealthCare.gov for most states) — not from your insurance company and not from your broker. It generally arrives by mail and shows up in your HealthCare.gov account by early February for the prior coverage year.
• 1095-B comes from an insurer or a government program (like Medicaid or CHIP) for coverage that didn’t come through the Marketplace.
• 1095-C comes from a large employer about the coverage it offered you.

It’s normal for a household to receive more than one kind in a year — for example, Marketplace coverage for part of the year and employer coverage for the rest.

How to Download Your 1095-A (Step by Step)

1. Go to HealthCare.gov and log in to your own account. (Never share your password with anyone — including me. I’ll talk you through the clicks instead.)
2. Open the application for the coverage year the form covers.
3. Find the “Tax Forms” section and select Form 1095-A.
4. Download the PDF. Save it, and print a copy or send the PDF to your tax preparer.

If you enrolled with an agent’s help — including through my self-enroll link — the Marketplace is still the one that issues this form. I can’t print it for you, but I will stay on the phone and walk you to it, screen by screen.

If It’s Wrong, Blank, or Marked “Void”

Check three things before you file: the coverage months, the monthly premium amounts, and everyone listed on the form. If the numbers don’t match your real coverage:

• If the top of the form has the “Corrected” box checked, use that version — it replaces the original.
• If it says “Void,” the Marketplace cancelled that form; a corrected one should follow, or one was already issued under a different application.
• If something is wrong and no corrected form has come, call the Marketplace Call Center at 1-800-318-2596 and ask for a corrected 1095-A.

Don’t knowingly file with a form you believe is wrong — it’s much easier to fix before filing than after. And if the wait is stressing you out, text me. Straightening out Marketplace paperwork is literally my job.

If You Never Got One

First, check the tax-forms section of your HealthCare.gov account — most people’s forms are sitting there even when the mailed copy went missing. If you had Marketplace coverage for even one month and there’s no form anywhere, call the Marketplace at 1-800-318-2596. If your coverage all year was through a job, Medicaid, or another program instead, you won’t get a 1095-A — a 1095-B or 1095-C covers that, and your tax preparer can tell you what they need.

How This Form Connects to Your Taxes

If you received advance premium tax credit during the year, the IRS requires you to reconcile it — compare what was paid ahead of time against what you actually qualified for based on your final income. That reconciliation happens on Form 8962, which your tax preparer completes using your 1095-A.

Here’s the part worth knowing before tax season, not during it: if your income ended up higher than what you told the Marketplace, the advance credit may have been larger than you qualified for, and some or all of the extra may have to be repaid when you file. The rules on repayment have changed in recent years, so don’t guess at the amount — that’s a question for your tax preparer.

This is exactly why I stay on my clients all year about one thing: when your income changes, tell me. A raise, a new job, a lost job — adjusting your application mid-year is how this form stays boring in April instead of becoming a surprise. If nobody’s watching yours, that’s the part I do.

Don’t Have a Broker Watching Your Coverage?

Most tax-season scrambles I see come from the same place: a plan picked once, then never touched while jobs, income, and family changed. My clients get the form walkthrough, the income-change check-ins, and a call before anything becomes a problem. If that sounds better than what you have now, text 1095 to 954-787-9118 and we’ll start with your form — no charge for my help, ever.

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