If there's one thing in life we didn't need more of, it's another form to file come tax time.
But, that's exactly what we got as a result of “Obamacare” or it's given name, The Affordable Care Act.
The 1095 form is basically designed to make sure you're getting the money you're supposed to be getting from the federal government and prove that you actually had health insurance for the whole year.
I had more people than I care to admit ask me, “how are they going know if I actually bought health insurance?”
This is how.
You'll notice the form is relatively simple, consisting of two pages and only the first page requires any work.
Part I of Ohio's 1095 Tax Form
This section is pretty straight forward, name, address, social security number, and policy number are what you will have to provide in this section.
Part II of Ohio's 1095 Tax Form
Surprisingly enough, this section is still also fairly simple.
Here you will just be including the necessary information for the members of your family who were covered on the policy for that tax year.
This comes in handy if you have a child who was only on your plan for a few months of the year because they got a job with benefits, or possibly were too old to stay on the plan.
Part III of Ohio's 1095 Tax Form
This is where things get a little more interesting.
Column A. is simply the amount you paid each month for your health insurance policy.
Column B. is going to require you to do a little calculation. You'll want to head over to Healthcare.gov and use their tax tool for figuring out the cost of the “second lowest cost silver plan in your county.
I would include the rate for you, but it has to be based off your age, number of family members and most importantly your zip code.
In other words, it's kind of impossible for me to predict.
However, watch the video below for a detailed walk-through of how to use the tax tool.
Click here to use the healthcare.gov tax tool.
Column C. is simply the amount of money the government is giving you to pay for your health insurance every month.
Don't let the title of the column, “Monthly Advance Payment of Premium Tax Credit” throw you off. While that may be the most accurate explanation, the governments inability to simplify the English language never ceases to amaze me.
The best part about breaking this section up by month, is it will allow you the ability to easily show the different amounts you may or may not have had to pay for your health insurance during the course of the year.
You might have to pay different amounts if you got married and added your spouse to your plan, had one of your dependent (children) come off the policy or started to make more or less money at work. Hopefully it's more.
Page 2 of Ohio's 1095 Tax Form
This is just a page of fine print or instructions. This section of the form will be explained much better by your accountant or tax prepare.
While I'm learning over the last 24 months I should have also become a licensed CPA, that I am not. Health insurance is my game and I'm sticking to it.
But it is important to read through these and make sure to have some with more knowledge explain it to you.
The Bottom Line
While I'm sure I can name 2,354 things you would rather do than complete this form, by doing so will ensure you don't get fined taxed by the government for not having health insurance in 2014.
It will also help to verify you received the proper amount of subsidy throughout the course of the year and are not required to pay any back.
