Question: The other day I received in the mail from HMSA a letter marked “Important Tax Information Enclosed.” It is Form 1095-B, which is a tax new form to submit with your federal taxes for 2015. Why are they sending it out now when we filed our taxes for 2015 several months ago? Most people like me may lose this tax document then will have to frantically look for it or call HMSA to get a copy of it? Why send it out now?

Answer: Under the U.S. Affordable Care Act, income tax filers must report whether they, their spouses and their dependents carried the minimum required health insurance during the tax year. Health insurance providers mail Form 1095-B to certain customers, with details about who was covered and when, so that tax filers can retrieve the necessary information simply and accurately, according to the Internal Revenue Service.

The IRS extended the 2015 form due date for insurers from Jan. 31 to March 31. It noted on its website that some taxpayers might not receive their Form 1095-B by the time they are ready to file 2015 federal income tax returns, and that they should go ahead and file, using other documents to verify health insurance coverage; the Form 1095-B was not required.

The Hawaii Medical Service Association said on its website in February that it would use the IRS extension “to work with our vendor partners to make sure the form we send you is accurate and complete” and that it expected to mail out the forms in early March.

Kokua Line followed up with HMSA to find out why some subscribers received the form later than that — much later, in your case.

Elisa Yadao, senior vice president of consumer experience, said HMSA did mail 1095-B forms to subscribers in March as planned. Any subscriber who received the form later than that likely did so for one of two reasons, she said.

Either “we received updated information that allowed us to send the form for the first time” or “we made a correction to the form that was originally sent. … This could have been a correction to the dates that (a subscriber) was covered by an HMSA plan or a variety of other factors,” she said.

If you had health insurance in 2015, and indicated that accurately on your tax return, you can simply file the form away for your records, whether it was the original that you received recently or a revised version. If you have dependents on your HMSA medical plan who file their taxes separately, give them a copy of the form too.

If this does not fully answer your question or you believe that something changed that you might need to report to the IRS, HMSA encourages you to call 948-6018 on Oahu or 1-800-705-9373 toll-free from the neighbor islands or continental United States.

As mentioned, not all HMSA members receive a Form 1095-B from the insurer. This includes dependents, members who bought an individual plan on the Hawaii Health Connector, those with a 2015 self-insured plan through their employer and members on a government-sponsored plan such as QUEST Integration.

‘Coffee with a Cop’

The Honolulu Police Department will host “Coffee with a Cop” on Tuesday, June 7, from 8 to 10 a.m. at Big City Diner at the Ward Entertainment Center, 1060 Auahi St. An HPD news release describes the event as “a great opportunity for the public to come together to drink coffee, discuss community issues and learn more about the department’s work in our neighborhoods.” It’s part of a national initiative designed to help local police departments connect with the people they are sworn to serve and protect. Kokua Line gets a steady stream of questions related to law enforcement in Hawaii, regarding both policy and practice. So events like these are sure to be of interest.

Mahalo

I want to give a big “thank you” to my daughter’s teachers, who helped her grow so much this year. She blossomed into a confident learner because of their kind encouragement every day. … They knew she could do it and she wanted to make them proud. … It isn’t easy being a teacher. For some children it isn’t easy being a student, either. Dedicated teachers make all the difference for students like her. … All I can say is thank you, thank you, thank you. — Appreciates educators

Write to “Kokua Line” at Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 7 Waterfront Plaza, Suite 210, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Honolulu 96813; call 529-4773; fax 529-4750; or email kokualine@staradvertiser.com.