Social Security offices closing?

[ajefferism 1]

Anyone else having this issue?   Me and my fiance just got married last week and went to get her social security number today but the office is closed because of the coronavirus.   There are no announcements online about offices closing or on the ssa.gov website.   Her visa is expired May 8th and I still have to get her on my work's health insurance for the new I-944 application but the online insurance application requires a social security number.   I'm starting to panic here.   Should I get a lawyer if SS offices are gonna be shut down for a long time?   Is this going to affect her getting her green card?

[Ontarkie 14,235]

~~Moved to Moving Here and Your New Life, from K1 P&P - the topic is about health insurance without a SSN~~

[yuna628 9,677]

An SSN is not required by law to obtain health insurance. I would speak to HR or the insurance representative. Often people have to have a little argument with them to get them to understand. Certainly things are a little crazy right now, but depending on the state some buildings may be closed. You'd have to call the number to find out more information.

[DELETEME1234 208]

5 minutes ago, ajefferism said:

Anyone else having this issue?   Me and my fiance just got married last week and went to get her social security number today but the office is closed because of the coronavirus.   There are no announcements online about offices closing or on the ssa.gov website.   Her visa is expired May 8th and I still have to get her on my work's health insurance for the new I-944 application but the online insurance application requires a social security number.   I'm starting to panic here.   Should I get a lawyer if SS offices are gonna be shut down for a long time?   Is this going to affect her getting her green card?

It might help if you call SSA to see which office is open. 

 

As for insurance, most ask for it but it's not required, try to get in contact with human being on the phone and explain the situation. You might have to pressure a bit, but they should add her on your insurance. 

[ajefferism 1]

23 hours ago, yuna628 said:

An SSN is not required by law to obtain health insurance. I would speak to HR or the insurance representative. Often people have to have a little argument with them to get them to understand. Certainly things are a little crazy right now, but depending on the state some buildings may be closed. You'd have to call the number to find out more information.

Yuna,

 

Do you have a link or reference about not needing a SSN?   Would be helpful in my case when talking to someone....

[yuna628 9,677]

16 minutes ago, ajefferism said:

Yuna,

 

Do you have a link or reference about not needing a SSN?   Would be helpful in my case when talking to someone....

It's part of ACA law. However, can't really argue with the IRS either. https://www.irs.gov/affordable-care-act/questions-and-answers-about-reporting-social-security-numbers-to-your-health-insurance-company

 

They are required to ask for it nicely, but you are not required to give it. They can ask for it multiple times, which fulfills the ''asking in good faith'' portion of their responsibility, and that's it. The only person that is authorized to truly ask is the IRS itself, and if they should ever need that info to confirm you have a policy, they will (they won't). Most policy manuals has this somewhere, so does HR, and so do the employees that help sign you up. There is usually a provision to put in 0s for instance or simply just dates of birth. Now of course that doesn't stop many to demand or even turn away customers because of this - this is wrong and illegal, whether through their own ignorance or malice. This has been reported lots of times publicly, usually with a CEO apologizing, and of course tons ask about this on the forums, as it's a common problem.

Edited March 17, 2020 by yuna628

[ajefferism 1]

17 hours ago, yuna628 said:

It's part of ACA law. However, can't really argue with the IRS either. https://www.irs.gov/affordable-care-act/questions-and-answers-about-reporting-social-security-numbers-to-your-health-insurance-company

 

They are required to ask for it nicely, but you are not required to give it. They can ask for it multiple times, which fulfills the ''asking in good faith'' portion of their responsibility, and that's it. The only person that is authorized to truly ask is the IRS itself, and if they should ever need that info to confirm you have a policy, they will (they won't). Most policy manuals has this somewhere, so does HR, and so do the employees that help sign you up. There is usually a provision to put in 0s for instance or simply just dates of birth. Now of course that doesn't stop many to demand or even turn away customers because of this - this is wrong and illegal, whether through their own ignorance or malice. This has been reported lots of times publicly, usually with a CEO apologizing, and of course tons ask about this on the forums, as it's a common problem.

Thanks so much for the link and response.    Just an update,   I went through my works online application and instead of checking the no SSN checkbox which stopped me in my tracks, I just typed in 111-22-3333 as her social number and it went through.  Also, just the morning it was already approved.   Now just gotta wait for her insurance card etc.    Thanks for the help and friendly advice!