Does your insurance company want the SS# for your kids?

[mirth]

Our health insurance (UHC - United Healthcare) sent home a letter that strongly suggested that if we did not provide them with the SS# for our kids (ages 3 and 5), that they can deny coverage or drop us or something like that.

 

Has anyone else had this experience?

 

I do not want to give out the kids' SS#s. (They do have SS#s)

Edited August 31, 2009 by mirth

[Crafty Mathy Mom]

We just got the same type letter, but from Blue Cross/Blue Shield.

[mommaduck]

Same here.

[Pretty in Pink]

Yes. My dh is military so we have Tricare. I also had to provide SSNs with Blue Cross/Blue Shield in the past.

[TravelingChris]

We have Tricare Standard and some doctor;s offices want them but I don't know them and they are no longer on our dependant ID cards so I leave it blank. The biggest problem we usually have if someone has any of our SS# is that they file the claim under that SS#. In the military, and for me for the rest of my life, the only SS# that matters is the sponsor's, i.e., my husband's. If they file under mine or one of the children's, it won't be paid so it is best if they are simply left out. Since all the doctors keep accepting us as patients, apparently they are getting paid.

[PiCO]

Our health insurance (UHC - United Healthcare) sent home a letter that strongly suggested that if we did not provide them with the SS# for our kids (ages 3 and 5), that they can deny coverage or drop us or something like that.

 

Has anyone else had this experience?

 

I do not want to give out the kids' SS#s. (They do have SS#s)

 

I would ask for a copy of the law. I have UHC, and I have not seen that letter, but I am not giving out my kids' ssn.

[Tutor]

From the SSA website:

 

You should be very careful about sharing your number and card to protect against misuse of your number. Giving your number is voluntary even when you are asked for the number directly. If requested, you should ask:

 

 

• Why your number is needed;
  
• How your number will be used;
  
• What happens if you refuse; and
  
• What law requires you to give your number.
  

 

The answers to these questions can help you decide if you want to give your Social Security number. The decision is yours

 

I would ask the above questions before giving them the numbers (make sure you write down who you talk to and the date and time you talk to them).

 

I am pretty sure that places that ask for a SSN but aren't required by law to collect one for you must supply you with an alternate id number. I can't find that source right now, but if I find it, I'll post it here.

[mirth]

Thanks for all the SSA info. I called UHC and they said it is actually my husband's employer's HR dept who wants the #s for "verification" purposes. (So the HR dept people have already taken a stab at guessing my kids' SS#s and now want me to verify it? :tongue_smilie: ) I read all that SSA stuff to my husband who will deal with his HR. When UHC transferred my call to the employer, their HR insisted on having me on a recorded line. Ok ... Then only to tell me they couldn't talk to me, only my husband.

[plansrme]

I am an employee benefits attorney, and here is why they want it:

 

Group health plan sponsors now (as of 1/1/09) need to report the names and SSNs of everyone covered under their plans to Medicare so that Medicare/Medicaid can insure that they are not paying claims that are covered under a private plan.

Employers suffer grave (i.e., expensive) consequences if they do not comply.

Many of my clients are now revising their eligibility rules to provide that they will not cover a dependent whose SSN is not provided. That doesn't mean that they're going to kick you out today if you don't comply, but eventually, they may.

If you don't like it, I am right there with you, but your employer isn't doing it just to be nosy. Complain to your Congressman.

 

Terri

[coffeefreak]

Doesn't it also have to do with taxes? We are self-insured so I have to have everyone's socials in the plan so when I claim things, the irs has a way to verify that person is my dependent (at least that's how I reasoned it out). If you're through your employer, it's pre-taxed so they probably want all that info for the same reasons.

 

I'm with you though, the less people that have our socials the better. The Dr's started asking for my kid's socials and I still haven't given them to them. We each have our own insurance number, why would they need our socials?

[plansrme]

http://www.cms.hhs.gov/MandatoryInsRep/Downloads/CollectionofSSNsHICNsandEINsTINsALERT.pdf

 

Sorry, don't know how to parse links, but this is CMS' rebuttal of sorts to the SSA statement above.

 

Your employer or insurer will be fined $1,000/DAY for each instance of noncompliance, so yeah, they'll be coming after you for those SSNs. Note that this is not the responsibility of the doctor's office, so I still do not give anyone's, mine or my kids', SSNs to health care providers who ask for it.

 

Terri

[StephinAL]

My husband is a TN state employee and we have insurance through Cigna. They required SS#s for each of our children AND proof we are married. I had to give a copy of our marriage certificate and a document proving we both live at our residense such as a utility bill, tax document, etc.

[plansrme]

They required SS#s for each of our children AND proof we are married. I had to give a copy of our marriage certificate and a document proving we both live at our residense such as a utility bill, tax document, etc.

 

Just to clarify (not that anyone but me could possibly care ;)), the proof of marriage is an employer requirement, not a government one. They are trying to keep employees from covering girlfriends as wives, or their nieces and nephews as their children. "Dependent audits," as they are called, are all the rage these days. Employers who conduct them find that they have been covering a surprising number of ineligible "spouses" and "children."

 

Terri