Treasury and IRS Provide Automatic Extension for Health Coverage Statements
The Treasury Department and IRS recently issued final regulations granting an automatic extension for providers of minimum essential coverage health insurance to furnish individuals statements regarding their coverage. The regulations were published in T.D. 9970.
These information statements are generally taxpayer copies of Forms 1095-B, Health Coverage, and 1095-C, Employer-Provided Health Insurance Offer and Coverage. Since the statements were first required, a 30-day extension beyond the statutory deadline of Jan. 31 for providing them to responsible individuals has been offered annually. The final regulations grant reporting entities an automatic 30-day extension and remove the requirement for a reporting entity to apply in writing to the IRS to request an extension.
Additionally, the final regulations grant an automatic extension for "applicable large employers” (ALEs), who are generally employers with 50 or more full-time/full-time equivalent employees, to furnish statements regarding health insurance offered to full-time employees.
The regulations also include an alternative method for a reporting entity to timely provide Forms 1095-B to responsible individuals in years when the individual shared-responsibility payment amount is zero. The reporting entity must post a visible and clear notice on its website stating that responsible individuals can receive their form upon request, along with email and physical addresses and a phone number for making the request. It must fulfill requests within 30 days of receipt. The notice must be kept in the same location on the website through Oct. 15 of the year following the calendar year to which the statements pertain. The regulations do not amend the regulations under Sec. 6056 to permit an ALE to use the alternative method of providing the information to full-time employees enrolled in the employer's self-insured plan.
The regulations under Regs. Secs. 1.6055-1 and 301.6056-1 apply for calendar years beginning after Dec. 31, 2021. Taxpayers may rely on Regs. Secs. 1.6055-1 and 301.6056-1 of the 2021 proposed regulations for calendar years beginning after Dec. 31, 2020, and before Dec. 15, 2022.
Medicaid Coverage and COVID-19
The IRS previously stated that COVID-19 testing and related services are not minimum essential coverage for purposes of the Sec. 36B premium tax credit. Therefore, individuals who had Medicaid coverage for any month would be eligible for the premium tax credit for that month if they met all other requirements. The final regulations amend Regs. Sec. 1.5000A-2 to reflect this for months beginning after Sept. 28, 2020. Taxpayers may continue to rely on Notice 2020-66 for months beginning on or after Jan. 1, 2020, and before Sept. 28, 2020.