Serenade Posted December 14, 2015 Share Posted December 14, 2015 …the government can't verify my husband's identify so that we can purchase our health insurance on the exchange. Sigh. They surely didn't have any problem identifying him for the thousands and thousands of taxes he paid through the years…I imagine they would have tracked him down pretty dang quickly if he tried to be anonymous and evade taxes. What a mess! My DH has been working on this pretty much non-stop since yesterday and just can't get anything going. He was directed to call an outside organization for verification with some kind of a code. They also could not identify him, so back to the government website. Then he had to re-enter all of his information for the umpteenth time. He finally was able to fax in some information and is awaiting some e-mail confirmation of his identity. What the heck are we supposed to do if that does not come in by tomorrow?!! The ACA website is all bogged down. I imagine we're not the only ones with this problem. Will they extend the deadline? It's not like you can easily talk to someone to help you out. There are very limited phone hours, as is the case for most government offices and the holds are mind-numblingly long, if you're not dropped during the process. I hope we're not going to be penalized for the government's inefficiency. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SparklyUnicorn Posted December 14, 2015 Share Posted December 14, 2015 That sounds really dumb and annoying. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Serenade Posted December 14, 2015 Author Share Posted December 14, 2015 That sounds really dumb and annoying. Thanks for the empathy. I just don't understand how the government can not find him via his social security number. It makes no sense. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SparklyUnicorn Posted December 14, 2015 Share Posted December 14, 2015 Thanks for the empathy. I just don't understand how the government can not find him via his social security number. It makes no sense. Yeah that is extremely weird. Although I recently read that social security numbers are a mess. Sometimes more than one name is attached to the same number. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Serenade Posted December 14, 2015 Author Share Posted December 14, 2015 Yeah that is extremely weird. Although I recently read that social security numbers are a mess. Sometimes more than one name is attached to the same number. You know, you just gave me an idea. His dad passed away nearly two years ago, and they have identical names except for a Jr/Sr designation. I wonder if that has anything to do with it. He has erroneously gotten legal documents for his dad in the past. Although, my DH has paid taxes twice since his dad died, so I would think that would all be worked out. Anyhow, I'm going to mention this to him. I think he's still on hold. :-) 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SparklyUnicorn Posted December 14, 2015 Share Posted December 14, 2015 You know, you just gave me an idea. His dad passed away nearly two years ago, and they have identical names except for a Jr/Sr designation. I wonder if that has anything to do with it. He has erroneously gotten legal documents for his dad in the past. Although, my DH has paid taxes twice since his dad died, so I would think that would all be worked out. Anyhow, I'm going to mention this to him. I think he's still on hold. :-) Ohh..that might what is going on. Locally there was a guy that had the same first and last name as my dad and the same middle initial (not the same middle name though). Except most people don't write out their middle name. Sometimes there were mix ups. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Serenade Posted December 14, 2015 Author Share Posted December 14, 2015 Ohh..that might what is going on. Locally there was a guy that had the same first and last name as my dad and the same middle initial (not the same middle name though). Except most people don't write out their middle name. Sometimes there were mix ups. Oh yeah, I'm sure the same name and middle initial would lead to plenty of mix-ups. Anyhow, my DH is on the phone with a representative now, and he's been on a long time, so I hope it's all getting worked out, or he's at least getting an extension or something. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leav97 Posted December 14, 2015 Share Posted December 14, 2015 One of my co-workers has had problems with having almost the same name. Him, his father, and his grandfather have almost matching names. Like Jim Alan Smith, Jim Albert Smith, Jim Alfred Smith. Apparently it's a family tradition. In addition they all lived at the same address for a while. It made a heck of a mess out of their credit reports. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Serenade Posted December 14, 2015 Author Share Posted December 14, 2015 One of my co-workers has had problems with having almost the same name. Him, his father, and his grandfather have almost matching names. Like Jim Alan Smith, Jim Albert Smith, Jim Alfred Smith. Apparently it's a family tradition. In addition they all lived at the same address for a while. It made a heck of a mess out of their credit reports. This is why I refused to have either of my sons carry on that same family name. Instead, each boy got just one of his father's names - one son got DH's first name as a middle name, and the other one got DH's middle name as a first name. This way, nobody has the same name! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Serenade Posted December 14, 2015 Author Share Posted December 14, 2015 Anyway, as an update, my DH finally got on the phone with a representative, and he was on the phone for 1 hour and 45 minutes, 20 minutes of that on hold. It was worth it, though. The representative was very helpful, worked some kind of magic to verify my DH's identity (although the rep couldn't find him in the system, either, and had to discuss it with a supervisor), and helped get us signed up. We even got dental for a reasonable fee, something we didn't think was available. I have a feeling my DH will be having a nice, stiff drink tonight. And I would say he deserves it! 11 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThisIsTheDay Posted December 14, 2015 Share Posted December 14, 2015 SO stressful!!!! Glad it got worked out. We put this off until last week, and it really just drags the stress out over a period of two months. Unfortunately, I don't learn lessons like this well and will probably put it off next year too. To you and your dh-- :cheers2: 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lanny Posted December 14, 2015 Share Posted December 14, 2015 Sorry about this issue. You are lucky that the SSA or VA, have not sent you a letter that your DH is dead, and cut of benefits, because of their error. They do that occasionally and the people have a very difficult time proving that they are not dead... You may need to contact one of your U.S. Senators or your U.S. Congressman to get help in eliminating the issue. GL 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardenmom5 Posted December 14, 2015 Share Posted December 14, 2015 I can't tell you how many people are also in your situation. dh refuses to allow his clients to log into our state' exchanges - becase ONE tiny mistake entering data (or a question answered incorrectly - even that seems like how it should be answered. becasue the questions can be misleading). . . it will lock a person out. what state are you in? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pippen Posted December 14, 2015 Share Posted December 14, 2015 When we were applying for FAFSA id's, the information that was popping up went way beyond taxes--our mortgage, loan, and credit cards showed up. One credit card was one we used only once many years ago. It took longer to verify our teens that didn't have any of those. https://marketplace.cms.gov/outreach-and-education/your-marketplace-application.pdf 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Serenade Posted December 15, 2015 Author Share Posted December 15, 2015 SO stressful!!!! Glad it got worked out. We put this off until last week, and it really just drags the stress out over a period of two months. Unfortunately, I don't learn lessons like this well and will probably put it off next year too. To you and your dh-- :cheers2: Thanks! We're newbies to the program and didn't realize until just a couple of weeks ago that we had to complete the stuff by December 15 for coverage starting on January 1, even though open enrollment continues on into next year. It makes sense, of course, but we didn't put two and two together, and then we were out of town and had to work on it post-haste this past weekend. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Serenade Posted December 15, 2015 Author Share Posted December 15, 2015 Sorry about this issue. You are lucky that the SSA or VA, have not sent you a letter that your DH is dead, and cut of benefits, because of their error. They do that occasionally and the people have a very difficult time proving that they are not dead... You may need to contact one of your U.S. Senators or your U.S. Congressman to get help in eliminating the issue. GL I have heard of this happening. So glad that our problem was easier to solve than that! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Serenade Posted December 15, 2015 Author Share Posted December 15, 2015 I can't tell you how many people are also in your situation. dh refuses to allow his clients to log into our state' exchanges - becase ONE tiny mistake entering data (or a question answered incorrectly - even that seems like how it should be answered. becasue the questions can be misleading). . . it will lock a person out. what state are you in? NC I think we're a state with limited options, anyhow. My DH left his job at the end of October, so we need to make sure we're covered by January or we'll be fined. We're lucky in that we can kick in with Cobra retroactively if something happens before then, but we'd prefer not to use that option and save the Cobra money because we have two months we can go without insurance and not incur a fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Serenade Posted December 15, 2015 Author Share Posted December 15, 2015 Does your state have facilitators that can help you through the process? NY does, yet it still took a couple hours for ours to get into the system. I think they extended the deadline last year, so they'll most likely extend it again, as long as so many people are desperately trying to navigate it. Once we got in, they would send us a letter each day, saying they still needed additional info. So far, I've mailed them two items, I didn't even try to fax it or call. Luckily NY somehow got it and replied in less than a week. All in all, I think the states who have their own exchange do much better. And it sucks that some states chose not to do that... ETA-- the navigator even came to our house to help us renew this year. Can't beat that! I don't think there are facilitators, but maybe we just didn't find out about them. The guy on the phone was helpful, though, so as long as everything goes through as he and DH discussed yesterday, we should be all set. I think the representative said DH might have a couple of things he yet has to do to fully complete the process, but we should be mostly done at least. And I'm grateful the rep suggested the dental insurance to DH. We didn't think dental was an option at all, so we were happy to have an option to buy that as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Serenade Posted December 15, 2015 Author Share Posted December 15, 2015 When we were applying for FAFSA id's, the information that was popping up went way beyond taxes--our mortgage, loan, and credit cards showed up. One credit card was one we used only once many years ago. It took longer to verify our teens that didn't have any of those. https://marketplace.cms.gov/outreach-and-education/your-marketplace-application.pdf This is very good information! I wish we had read that before DH began the process -- I think it would have alleviated some worry, at least for me. Sounds like the ID verification happens to a lot of people, although I still think that it could be a simpler process. Using social security and simple information from last year's tax return, it should be easy enough to confirm identity. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carrie12345 Posted December 15, 2015 Share Posted December 15, 2015 I had my application all done and accepted days ago. I started getting emails yesterday, telling me to hurry up to meet the deadline. The website's "final review" button won't click for me now, and BC says they got my policy info, but it got voided!!!The phone system has been telling me they're too busy to take my call and then hanging up on me for the past 24 hours. I finally got in, and now I'm waiting my estimated 20 minutes. Sigh. It really is insane. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Serenade Posted December 15, 2015 Author Share Posted December 15, 2015 I had my application all done and accepted days ago. I started getting emails yesterday, telling me to hurry up to meet the deadline. The website's "final review" button won't click for me now, and BC says they got my policy info, but it got voided!!! The phone system has been telling me they're too busy to take my call and then hanging up on me for the past 24 hours. I finally got in, and now I'm waiting my estimated 20 minutes. Sigh. It really is insane. I hope you don't wait too long and that you can get everything taken care of. So frustrating. I wonder why your policy info was voided. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HRAAB Posted December 15, 2015 Share Posted December 15, 2015 Like when they told us our dd didn't exist. Birth certificate, ss#, but she didn't exist. Her sister existed, though. They're twins. It was a hell of a mess and took more than a month to straighten out. Good luck. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carrie12345 Posted December 15, 2015 Share Posted December 15, 2015 I hope you don't wait too long and that you can get everything taken care of. So frustrating. I wonder why your policy info was voided. An hour and 23 minutes and maybe it's fixed. I suppose we'll find out eventually! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bethben Posted December 15, 2015 Share Posted December 15, 2015 We had a nightmare with our state exchange. I entered all the information only to be told an error message. I kept trying and kept getting an error message. Then I get something by email that told me the whole family qualified for Medicaid due to income (unemployed at the time). Apparently, something went through without my knowledge. A month later, I get a letter telling me that my husband and I were on a very expensive plan that apparently went through the error message which I never signed up for. So, we had two insurance plans. I tried to cancel very expensive insurance because we were covered elsewhere. I canceled. Meanwhile, their computers felt I really should want expensive insurance plan so they re-enrolled us under dh's name automatically without any indication that we wanted this and sent us a new bill. Finally we got that cancelled. So, we move because dh got a job in another state and I cancelled the state healthcare. This was April. I JUST got a letter stating that we no longer qualified and that my state insurance would be cancelled November 30. This was despite numerous calls making sure we were cancelled and being assured that we were. This whole system is a complete mess! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cjzimmer1 Posted December 16, 2015 Share Posted December 16, 2015 Does anyone know if we have to make a payment by today as well as sign up? When I log in, it signs my application is complete but there is that button that says click to pay here. I was hoping to wait a bit to pay for it but I'm worried if I don't pay today it won't count as being signed up. Anyone know for sure how this part works? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Serenade Posted December 16, 2015 Author Share Posted December 16, 2015 Does anyone know if we have to make a payment by today as well as sign up? When I log in, it signs my application is complete but there is that button that says click to pay here. I was hoping to wait a bit to pay for it but I'm worried if I don't pay today it won't count as being signed up. Anyone know for sure how this part works? I'm not sure, but I don't think my DH has paid yet. I think he said he's supposed to wait for an e-mail or something before he pays. I'll ask him tomorrow (he's already in bed.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Serenade Posted December 16, 2015 Author Share Posted December 16, 2015 This whole system is a complete mess! I really hope that some of these glitches can be fixed over time. It doesn't seem like the process should be so complicated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tsuga Posted December 16, 2015 Share Posted December 16, 2015 Anyway, as an update, my DH finally got on the phone with a representative, and he was on the phone for 1 hour and 45 minutes, 20 minutes of that on hold. It was worth it, though. The representative was very helpful, worked some kind of magic to verify my DH's identity (although the rep couldn't find him in the system, either, and had to discuss it with a supervisor), and helped get us signed up. We even got dental for a reasonable fee, something we didn't think was available. I have a feeling my DH will be having a nice, stiff drink tonight. And I would say he deserves it! I am very glad that worked out. I can't imagine that they can't find him via SSN--that is a little terrifying. I wonder if it was a glitch in the server. We are having issues and apparently there is one version of the server that we just updated to that tells you you have all the records in a table but you don't. And since there's no error message you would never guess to check. It's really horrible and it's been happening all over our workplace. If this is a short-term issue, like, under one week, my guess is that it was that type of problem. Otherwise SOMETHING would come up somewhere. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hopskipjump Posted December 16, 2015 Share Posted December 16, 2015 The entire system is whacked. DH and I each spent a minimum of two hours EACH on the phone with them yesterday. We've had the same health insurance plan through BCBS for two years & they decided to cancel that plan "in order to offer us better service." :glare: Better service = $250 INCREASE each month! So - we had to change plans. Extremely frustrating and maddening. To make matters worse their "muZak" while you are on hold repeats itself over and over again (on a short repeat) and had horrific static. If BCBS cancels our current plan, I think we are just going to move to Canada. It would be faster, easier, and less stressful! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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