AR SR11

Current federal law (26 U.S.C. § 6055) requires state Medicaid agencies to mail 1095-B forms (tax forms proving minimum essential health coverage) to all individuals covered by state Medicaid programs during the tax year.

Arkansas Department of Human Services spent $2,763,186.48 in 2017 to process and mail required tax year 2016 1095-B forms, with many forms returned due to recipients providing improper or inaccurate addresses.

Federal tax reform legislation (Pub. L. No. 115-97) abolished the tax penalty for failure to maintain minimum essential health coverage but did not rescind the requirement to mail 1095-B forms.

Senate encourages Arkansas congressional delegation to support federal law changes allowing states to either make 1095-B forms available online exclusively without requiring individual consent or mail forms only once per year and post returned forms online thereafter.

Secretary of the Senate directed to mail a copy of this resolution to each member of the Arkansas congressional delegation upon adoption.