health insurance crisis

[Adriene H 89]

The DMV isn't exactly full of the most helpful, pleasant people around.

DMV usually hires rehabilitated criminals

[Caryh 5,206]

You got lucky if there was no argument.

The woman at the DMV would not listen to anything, and she was the supervisor. I had the same problem with the bank and health insurance. It only took 10 days for the SSN to turn up, so it wasn't too long to wait. It makes life much easier if I have a SSN, I don't have to waste my time explaining. There's no reason not to get one, which is why I advised he should go ahead and apply for the SSN. Glad your method worked for you, I prefer the easy life.

We applied for the SSN barely over a week after getting married. Took about 2 or 3 weeks to get the card, I've heard up to a month though. We got married early enough in the 90 days that I wanted to hold off on the SSN until after the wedding. Made it so I didn't need to get a name change after the wedding. Insurance I set up the Monday after the wedding. As to dealing with the DMV, that went pretty smoothly for us. We applied for a State ID, then permit, and yesterday she got her drivers license. Everything happened in the married name, including the SSN which was with the I-94 and marriage certificate. I understand about trying to argue with DMV people, you're going to get nowhere most of the time. All the ones we've had have been very good to work with. They understood the rules better than I did, and in some cases we just happened to be doing things the most efficient and quickest way by accident. The bank was the trickiest one to get done. She was here only a few days and the person I was dealing with just said to have her wait and give her cash. But I wanted a check card in her hand right away. She did decide to check finally and learned it wasn't a problem. We later brought in the SSN and name change with the bank. By keeping all her USA official documents and ID's with the married name, I think we saved other hassles in the long run.

The problem I see is most people just assume and most people are inherently lazy. They don't want to be bothered to look it up or check into things. But if you insist and act nice, using words like please, eventually you can get most people to actually look up what the policy is. DMV employees are not to be construed as most people though, even supervisors. Who do you think teaches them not to look it up in the first place? I'm glad our DMV does not require the SSN yet. Or maybe I got around it by getting the State ID first. It does give a Status Checked Until date on it. From what I found out yesterday, we need to update them when the green card comes in. We did extend it a bit longer with the EAD yesterday.

[Joandjo 20]

Hi everybody, my wife arrived from Colombia on k1 visa May 12, 2012 and we married on May 14,2012. I had spoken with my employer before her arrival and explained that she was coming from another country on a fiancee visa and they said no problem just show us the marriage certificate and you can enroll her in a health care plan. So we hand delivered the marriage certificate yesterday afternoon, no problem, they said ok you're good to go. Then this morning I get an email from them saying they can't enroll her without a social security number. I called them to explain why she doesn't have a SSN and was told they can't enroll her without a SSN. So I've been calling around looking for insurance for immigrants, and they seem to all have pregnancy clauses where they won't cover someone for pregnancy until 10 months in. Well, we've already been trying to get pregnant as we both would love to have kids. Does anybody have any advice other than waiting to have kids? Thank you

My Fiance/now wife arrived here in Texas in December, I called our provider (not HR) and had her on my insurance (United Health Care) the day we married, no SSN.

Pregnancy as a pre-existing condition is another Provider question. If the company is HIPAA regulated then pregnancy can't be considered pre-existing. My insurance card has an 800 number to call and ask questions. The HR department at my work is very often mis-informed regarding insurance.

[JudyKCski 12]

Hi everybody, my wife arrived from Colombia on k1 visa May 12, 2012 and we married on May 14,2012. I had spoken with my employer before her arrival and explained that she was coming from another country on a fiancee visa and they said no problem just show us the marriage certificate and you can enroll her in a health care plan. So we hand delivered the marriage certificate yesterday afternoon, no problem, they said ok you're good to go. Then this morning I get an email from them saying they can't enroll her without a social security number. I called them to explain why she doesn't have a SSN and was told they can't enroll her without a SSN. So I've been calling around looking for insurance for immigrants, and they seem to all have pregnancy clauses where they won't cover someone for pregnancy until 10 months in. Well, we've already been trying to get pregnant as we both would love to have kids. Does anybody have any advice other than waiting to have kids? Thank you

I had this same problem - here is what I did. I had a copy of a paper that the lady at the SS office gave me which states that a Social Security Card is not to be used as a way of identification for "insurance" specifically for our spouses. At work they sent a copy of his passport and a copy of our marriage license. They by the way (SS office) would not give my husband a social security card as he had not yet filed for a EAD - they told me he had NO reason to have a card. When we filed our AOS we also filed for a EAD - just got his card in the mail yesterday.

Edited May 24, 2012 by JudyKCski

[Gosia & Tito 199]

Hi everybody, my wife arrived from Colombia on k1 visa May 12, 2012 and we married on May 14,2012. I had spoken with my employer before her arrival and explained that she was coming from another country on a fiancee visa and they said no problem just show us the marriage certificate and you can enroll her in a health care plan. So we hand delivered the marriage certificate yesterday afternoon, no problem, they said ok you're good to go. Then this morning I get an email from them saying they can't enroll her without a social security number. I called them to explain why she doesn't have a SSN and was told they can't enroll her without a SSN. So I've been calling around looking for insurance for immigrants, and they seem to all have pregnancy clauses where they won't cover someone for pregnancy until 10 months in. Well, we've already been trying to get pregnant as we both would love to have kids. Does anybody have any advice other than waiting to have kids? Thank you

Agree with others in waiting for a couple of weeks and get a SSN; on the other side, some insurance will tell you is 'mandatory' and it is not. Challenge them to show you what specific law requires a SSN to be enrolled; there is no rationale to require it; specially when several companies do it without it.

If they are half way decent, they will enroll your wife and accept a SSN later on. A marriage cert is the only thing needed to show relationship and what they call an 'event' to allow enrollment. Worst case scenario, you will have insurance by July, if they start coverage at beg of month immediately after registering. You should be able to have a SSN and register for the insurance by mid June.

[dleeg 2]

Hi there

Also in San Diego.....

My then fiance and I went downtown two weeks after her arrival and applied for a SS card. Two weeks later it arrived in the mail no problem. So it is possible.

Good luck!

[canada_socks 97]

My SSN came in 3 days after I applied. It all depends on your local office

[Sirdaniel42 86]

Go and get a SSN. It's free and she is entitled to it. Here's the guide for getting a SSN.

:thumbs:

[Severina 7]

Well, getting the SSN was no problem at all. First one in my maiden name and after we got married we went to the SSA and had the name changed. My husband's health insurance accepted me on the day we got married. Driver license was easy. The only problem I had was with my husband's credit union. I wanted to open an account there and at that point I still had the social security card which says

valid for work only

with authorization of the DHS

The clerk checked this with her supervisor and she came back and said "Sorry, we can't give you an account cause you Social Security Card is for work only". I couldn't believe it. I tried to explain but she wouldn't understand . I was so embarrassed for these people, their ignorance was really painful. So we left and I got an account with another credit union. Honestly I didn't want these people to work with my money .

Edited May 24, 2012 by Severina

[M&Pooh 12]

First thing you need to do is check with the _reliable_ source what is the timeframe for you to add your spouse to your insurance. How much time do you have? - this will determine whether you're able "to wait for SSN" as many advise. Personally, I would prefer the opposite option - to convince the insurance provider that SSN is really not necessary for a person to be covered. This is what I had done last year when adding my wife/stepson.

[Teddy B 17,252]

We applied for the SSN barely over a week after getting married. Took about 2 or 3 weeks to get the card, I've heard up to a month though. We got married early enough in the 90 days that I wanted to hold off on the SSN until after the wedding. Made it so I didn't need to get a name change after the wedding. Insurance I set up the Monday after the wedding. As to dealing with the DMV, that went pretty smoothly for us. We applied for a State ID, then permit, and yesterday she got her drivers license. Everything happened in the married name, including the SSN which was with the I-94 and marriage certificate. I understand about trying to argue with DMV people, you're going to get nowhere most of the time. All the ones we've had have been very good to work with. They understood the rules better than I did, and in some cases we just happened to be doing things the most efficient and quickest way by accident. The bank was the trickiest one to get done. She was here only a few days and the person I was dealing with just said to have her wait and give her cash. But I wanted a check card in her hand right away. She did decide to check finally and learned it wasn't a problem. We later brought in the SSN and name change with the bank. By keeping all her USA official documents and ID's with the married name, I think we saved other hassles in the long run.

The problem I see is most people just assume and most people are inherently lazy. They don't want to be bothered to look it up or check into things. But if you insist and act nice, using words like please, eventually you can get most people to actually look up what the policy is. DMV employees are not to be construed as most people though, even supervisors. Who do you think teaches them not to look it up in the first place? I'm glad our DMV does not require the SSN yet. Or maybe I got around it by getting the State ID first. It does give a Status Checked Until date on it. From what I found out yesterday, we need to update them when the green card comes in. We did extend it a bit longer with the EAD yesterday.

Good for you Caryh! It's good to see that you were able to educate some people on how the system works, rather than just giving in to the "easy way".

[rocks 494]

Good for you Caryh! It's good to see that you were able to educate some people on how the system works, rather than just giving in to the "easy way".

What's wrong with the easy way?

[Brian121957 43]

If they have initial time limitations you want to get the clock running. They should be able to conditional enroll her until you get all the papers to them.

On the SSN, the recommendation is to wait 2 weeks. What this is for is time for immigration to get her name on some list that Social Security checks. Maybe others can give the name of this list. So when you do go if SS cant find her on the list DON"T let them submit the application. It is better to wait another week and try again then to submit and have them take 6 weeks looking.

[duriantaste 44]

My wife went the first week to get her SSN and they told her she was not on the system yet. To wait 7 to 14 days. We waited a week or so, went back, and the lady located her on the computer.

You should get one. As soon that she got her SSn, we call HR and the next few days she has her insurance card. She was so happy to see her name on the card. Go figure.

[Teddy B 17,252]

What's wrong with the easy way?

Nothing, if that's the path you choose, evidently it works well for you!