Southern Geek
Recycles dryer sheets
On May 1 this year, 3 months prior to my wife's 65th birthday in August, she started the enrollment process for Medicare. My wife doesn't qualify for Medicare on her own record (40+ years full-time housewife and mother), so she would be applying for spousal benefit under my work record. I had enrolled for Medicare 2 years ago using the SSA web portal, and it was easy peasy. However, when my wife attempts to enroll online, there is no joy. No matter how she tried, she was unable to complete the enrollment online. We searched online for help, and finally located some obscure SSA web page that stated that a spousal application for Medicare benefits cannot be completed online. Enrollment could only be completed by either phone or in person at local SSA office. My wife elected to call SSA to enroll (1-800 number). After about a 30 minute wait, a SSA representative answered her call. Wife explained she wanted to enroll in Medicare A&B, but not Social Security, under my work record. The rep then starts the enrollment process. He asks her a series a questions (same ones as in an online application), and at the end of the questions, my wife thinks her enrollment is complete. But, then the rep tells her that to complete her enrollment, she would have to interview with a rep at the local SSA office, and due to the backlog resulting from the COVID shutdown of the local offices, the interview would be by a scheduled appointment via telephone. He then scheduled her interview for the earliest available appointment which was 11:47AM on July 1! And she was told that she would need a copy of our marriage license available at the interview (which we both thought was kind of weird). A week later, wife gets letter confirming appointment for July 1, and letter notes that she would need our marriage license available at time of interview.
7 weeks later, the local SSA rep calls right on time. He asks the same series of questions that were asked by SSA rep in prior call (as if the national and local SSA offices don't share databases?). During the process, he assured my wife several times that she would have her Medicare card prior to August 1. This was important, as my wife's current medical insurance would be terminated at midnight on July 31 and she needed her Medicare number to enroll in a Part D PDP prior to August 1. But then, at the end of the call, he tells her that to approve her enrollment he would need to make a copy of our original marriage certificate which she could either mail, or bring, to the office. Up to this point, no communication that we had received had indicated that this was necessary to complete the enrollment (other than having available at interview). My wife elected to take the certificate to office in person same day, prepared to wait hours. When she arrived at local office, there were a LOT of people in the waiting room and she couldn't figure out how to get in the queue. She asked a security guard nearby what to do, and when she told him the reason for her visit, he told her to go through an unmarked door and talk to lady inside. The lady inside took the marriage certificate, made a copy, and put copy in envelope labeled with name of rep my wife had talked to earlier that day. They lady indicated that wife should receive her Medicare card in about 2 weeks. Wife was in and out of office in 15 minutes.
My wife begins logging into her SSA account daily to check enrollment status because her Medicare number would be posted there before she got approval letter in mail. After 2 weeks, we begin to worry as her status never changes from 'in process'. At end of 3rd week (1 week from August 1), she attempts to contact local office to see if there is an issue. The local office never answers and her call is forwarded to national. After 30 minute wait, she is able to talk with someone from national who looks at her account and states everything is in order and my wife should receive an 'award letter' soon. "How soon is soon?" "Soon.'' "Has a Medicare number been assigned?" "Can't tell you that." "Anything she (my wife) can do to get a Medicare number by August 1?" "You will get an award letter soon."
So, here we are on the last business day of July, and my wife's enrollment status is still 'in process'. At this point, it is evident that wife will not be able to enroll in a PDP prior to August 1, and unlike Parts A&B which will be retroactive to August 1 once her Medicare is approved, a Part D PDP is not retroactive so we will be paying for her prescription drugs out of pocket through August (assuming approval not delayed past August).
Some Takeaways:
1. SSA (and 3rd party vendors) provides a lot of communication encouraging use of online enrollment, but do a lousy job of communicating exceptions for use of online enrollment.
2. If wife had known that it would be 7 weeks before she could get appointment with local SSA, she would have started process 5 months before her birthday month instead of 3 months. COVID has changed the rules, and again SSA is doing a lousy job of communicating this.
3. SSA reps are still using pre-COVID estimates for processing times. They are off by a factor of at least 2X.
4. When SSA communication inform you to have a marriage certificate available at an interview, they are still assuming that all interviews are in person (pre-COVID). This communication is meaningless for interview over a telephone. They should have informed us that they would need to make a copy of the original. It turns out that we could have provided the original to the local SSA prior to July 1 interview.
5. Except for scheduling an appointment for interview with local office, contacting SSA national office is mostly useless. The enrollment process does not begin until local office initiates it, and anything you do with national has to be repeated with local. OTOH, lots of luck trying to get through to your local office. Ours never answered the phone.
P.S. - There is nothing unusual about our marriage. We have been married 40+ years, and both of us are from generations of American citizens.
7 weeks later, the local SSA rep calls right on time. He asks the same series of questions that were asked by SSA rep in prior call (as if the national and local SSA offices don't share databases?). During the process, he assured my wife several times that she would have her Medicare card prior to August 1. This was important, as my wife's current medical insurance would be terminated at midnight on July 31 and she needed her Medicare number to enroll in a Part D PDP prior to August 1. But then, at the end of the call, he tells her that to approve her enrollment he would need to make a copy of our original marriage certificate which she could either mail, or bring, to the office. Up to this point, no communication that we had received had indicated that this was necessary to complete the enrollment (other than having available at interview). My wife elected to take the certificate to office in person same day, prepared to wait hours. When she arrived at local office, there were a LOT of people in the waiting room and she couldn't figure out how to get in the queue. She asked a security guard nearby what to do, and when she told him the reason for her visit, he told her to go through an unmarked door and talk to lady inside. The lady inside took the marriage certificate, made a copy, and put copy in envelope labeled with name of rep my wife had talked to earlier that day. They lady indicated that wife should receive her Medicare card in about 2 weeks. Wife was in and out of office in 15 minutes.
My wife begins logging into her SSA account daily to check enrollment status because her Medicare number would be posted there before she got approval letter in mail. After 2 weeks, we begin to worry as her status never changes from 'in process'. At end of 3rd week (1 week from August 1), she attempts to contact local office to see if there is an issue. The local office never answers and her call is forwarded to national. After 30 minute wait, she is able to talk with someone from national who looks at her account and states everything is in order and my wife should receive an 'award letter' soon. "How soon is soon?" "Soon.'' "Has a Medicare number been assigned?" "Can't tell you that." "Anything she (my wife) can do to get a Medicare number by August 1?" "You will get an award letter soon."
So, here we are on the last business day of July, and my wife's enrollment status is still 'in process'. At this point, it is evident that wife will not be able to enroll in a PDP prior to August 1, and unlike Parts A&B which will be retroactive to August 1 once her Medicare is approved, a Part D PDP is not retroactive so we will be paying for her prescription drugs out of pocket through August (assuming approval not delayed past August).
Some Takeaways:
1. SSA (and 3rd party vendors) provides a lot of communication encouraging use of online enrollment, but do a lousy job of communicating exceptions for use of online enrollment.
2. If wife had known that it would be 7 weeks before she could get appointment with local SSA, she would have started process 5 months before her birthday month instead of 3 months. COVID has changed the rules, and again SSA is doing a lousy job of communicating this.
3. SSA reps are still using pre-COVID estimates for processing times. They are off by a factor of at least 2X.
4. When SSA communication inform you to have a marriage certificate available at an interview, they are still assuming that all interviews are in person (pre-COVID). This communication is meaningless for interview over a telephone. They should have informed us that they would need to make a copy of the original. It turns out that we could have provided the original to the local SSA prior to July 1 interview.
5. Except for scheduling an appointment for interview with local office, contacting SSA national office is mostly useless. The enrollment process does not begin until local office initiates it, and anything you do with national has to be repeated with local. OTOH, lots of luck trying to get through to your local office. Ours never answered the phone.
P.S. - There is nothing unusual about our marriage. We have been married 40+ years, and both of us are from generations of American citizens.
