Updated October 17, 2026. Quick answer: Code 1F means the employer offered coverage that does not provide minimum value. Code 1G means you were not a full-time employee for any month but were enrolled in self-insured employer coverage. Code 1H means no offer of coverage, and the instructions say “Do not leave line 14 blank for any month”, so a 1H can also appear for months you were not employed.
What the three codes say
These three codes are the ones that do not describe a plain minimum value offer. The recipient wording on the form is:
| Code | Recipient wording on the form |
|---|---|
| 1F | “Minimum essential coverage NOT providing minimum value offered to you, or you and your spouse or dependent(s), or you, your spouse, and dependent(s).” |
| 1G | “You were NOT a full-time employee for any month of the calendar year but were enrolled in self-insured employer-sponsored coverage for one or more months of the calendar year.” |
| 1H | “No offer of coverage (you were NOT offered any health coverage or you were offered coverage that is NOT minimum essential coverage).” |
The filer instructions use somewhat longer wording for code 1G: “Offer of coverage for at least 1 month of the calendar year to an individual who was not an employee for any month of the calendar year or to an employee who was not a full-time employee for any month of the calendar year”, which continues to “and who enrolled in self-insured coverage for 1 or more months of the calendar year.” Code 1H in the filer text adds a clause the recipient text does not: “which may include 1 or more months in which the individual was not an employee”.
Code 1F: coverage without minimum value
Code 1F is the offer that fell short of the minimum value test. The instructions define the test: “A plan provides minimum value if the plan pays at least 60% of the costs of benefits for a standard population and provides substantial coverage of in-patient hospitalization services and physician services.” The 1F wording says the coverage is still minimum essential coverage, so it is a real offer of coverage, just not one that meets that definition. The form’s reference to the credit applies to this code as well: “If you or your family members are eligible for certain types of minimum essential coverage, you may not be eligible for the premium tax credit.” The form does not say how code 1F changes that. See the ACA subsidy calculator page for how subsidies are worked out on this site.
Code 1G: enrolled, but not full-time
Code 1G is built for people the employer reports only because they enrolled in the employer’s own plan. The filer instructions add a timing rule: “Code 1G applies for the entire year or not at all.” They go on: “if code 1G applies, an ALE Member must enter code 1G on line 14 in the “All 12 Months” column or in each separate monthly box (for all 12 months).” The recipient instructions repeat the point: “This code will be entered in the All 12 Months box or in the separate monthly boxes for all 12 calendar months on line 14.”
Reading your form: if you see 1G in one monthly box, expect to see it in all twelve. A form that mixes 1G with other codes would not follow those instructions. Because 1G goes with self-insured coverage, the covered people are listed in Part III of the form, which is explained on the Part III and line 17 page.
Code 1H and the rule against blank boxes
The line 14 instructions say two things that matter together. First, “If an employee was not offered coverage for a month, enter code 1H.” Second, “Do not leave line 14 blank for any month (including months when the individual was not an employee of the ALE Member).” Then they repeat it: “A code must be entered for each calendar month, January through December, even if the employee was not a full-time employee for 1 or more of the calendar months.”
So a 1H in a month does not by itself mean you were an employee that month. It can stand in for a month with no offer, a month with no employment, or a month in which the offered coverage was not minimum essential coverage, as the recipient text says. The instructions also say what counts as an offer in the first place: “An ALE Member offers health coverage for a month only if it offers health coverage that would provide coverage for every day of that calendar month.”
A month in which coverage ends partway through
The instructions apply that rule to a termination: “Thus, if coverage terminates before the last day of the month (because, for instance, the employee terminates employment with the ALE Member, or otherwise loses eligibility for coverage under the plan), the employee does not actually have an offer of coverage for that month (and code 1H should therefore be entered on line 14).” The instructions point to line 16 for the other half of that month’s reporting: “See line 16, code 2B, later, for how the ALE Member may complete line 16 in the event that coverage terminates before the last day of the month.” Line 16 is covered on the line 16 codes 2A and 2B page.
COBRA continuation coverage
The instructions treat COBRA differently depending on whether you left the job. For a former employee: “An offer of COBRA continuation coverage that is made to a former employee (or to a former employee’s spouse or dependents) due to termination of employment should not be reported as an offer of coverage on line 14.” What goes there instead: “code 1H (no offer of coverage) must be entered on line 14 for any month for which the offer of COBRA continuation coverage applies”, and the instructions add that this holds “without regard to whether the employee or spouse or dependents enrolled in the COBRA coverage.”
For someone who stayed employed the rule runs the other way: “An offer of COBRA continuation coverage that is made to an employee who remains employed by the ALE Member (or to that employee’s spouse and dependents) should be reported on line 14 as an offer of coverage”, “but only for any individual who receives an offer of COBRA continuation coverage”. The worked example for that situation is on the codes 1B to 1E page. The choice between COBRA and Marketplace coverage is a separate question, and COBRA vs ACA at retirement is the page for it on this site.
Post-employment coverage, such as at retirement
The instructions give retirement-type coverage its own rule: “An offer of post-employment coverage to a former employee (or to that former employee’s spouse or dependent(s)) for coverage that would be effective after the employee has terminated employment (such as at retirement) should not be reported as an offer of coverage on line 14.”
What to expect on your form: “the ALE Member should enter code 1H (no offer of coverage) on line 14 for any month to which an offer of post-employment coverage applies, and should also enter code 2A (not an employee) on line 16”. That applies if the employer is otherwise required to file Form 1095-C for the former employee, because, for example, the individual was a full-time employee for 1 or more months in the calendar year in which the termination of employment occurred.
Multiemployer plans
The recipient instructions note a limit: “If you received an offer of coverage through a multiemployer plan due to your membership in a union, that offer may not be shown on line 14.” The filer instructions say how it is reported for 2025: “an ALE Member relying on the multiemployer arrangement interim guidance should enter code 1H on line 14 for any month for which the ALE Member enters code 2E on line 16”. Line 16 code 2E is explained on the line 16 codes 2D and 2E page. A 1H on a union plan month is therefore not a statement that no plan existed.
Edition and tax year
The 2025 forms and instructions were the ones read for this page. They were the current files on irs.gov on 2026-10-17, and they cover coverage in calendar year 2025, furnished in early 2026. The year is printed on the form you received, so check it before you rely on any line of this page.
Common mistakes
- Reading 1H as proof you were never an employee that month. The instructions say “Do not leave line 14 blank for any month (including months when the individual was not an employee of the ALE Member).”
- Assuming a COBRA offer after you left shows up as an offer on line 14. The instructions say it “should not be reported as an offer of coverage on line 14.”
- Expecting 1G in only some months. The instructions say “Code 1G applies for the entire year or not at all.”
Related: COBRA vs ACA at retirement, ACA subsidy calculator, HSA after leaving your employer, and First Medicare choices at 65.
Sources
- Form 1095-C (2025), Employer-Provided Health Insurance Offer and Coverage: https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f1095c.pdf
- 2025 Instructions for Forms 1094-C and 1095-C: https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i109495c.pdf
Read from the IRS documents linked above on October 17, 2026. General information, not tax advice. Your own facts decide the outcome, and a preparer, the account provider or the IRS is the right place to confirm anything consequential.