Successful Social Security Interview

[Tadpole]

harlee, I may have to do that if my letter is substantially different from the ones others are getting. Currently, my major angst is the deposit being moved to the 3rd of the month for reasons that don't seem to fit anything in my application or life. Is restricted application a unstated reason and everyone else that has chosen restricted application is switched to the 3rd of the month? I Googled and Googled and found nothing that said I should move to the 3rd when I switched to my own benefits. That's when I decided to ask someone else if their date changed to the 3rd.

 

[Golden sunsets]

Plenty of surprises for me. Could you compare your letter from them with the following from my 2 letters from them. I am looking for the answer to the questions at the bottom of this very long post.

You aren't going to believe this. I got two letters from SSA today (SSA Southern Program Service Center, Birmingham, AL). One letter said they were changing my payment day to the 3rd of the month because I was in one of the following categories:



The first part of the second letter from the same place begins with the amount and when I will get it and agrees with the first letter. i.e. the after Medicare amount deposited on the 3rd of the month.

Then it has a section entitled "Information About Medicare". There is nothing in this section. It doesn't even mentioned that Medicare B was deducted from my total benefit to arrive at the (correct after Medicare amount). Nothing, na da.
The next section entitled "The Basis for the Decision" should clear it up for me. Nope. It says: "Based on the information given to us you were born on December 1, 1948." Then under the next section "Other Social Security benefits" it says: "This benefit is the only benefit you can receive from us at this time. In the future, if you think you might qualify for another benefit from us, you sill need to apply again." The last section first sentence says "Your benefits are based on the information you gave us." I never told them I was in one of the special categories above

When I search the Internet I discover that most people paid on the 3rd are on SSI. You will recall SSA sent me a letter saying I didn't qualify for SSI (I think you or someone here got one too.) So, they know I am not on SSI. I can't find anything that says ex-federal employees get SS on a special day so that's not the reason. I am worried that they have me in some special status that might affect my husbands survivor benefit.

Questions for you:
Was the Medicare part of your letter blank?
Did they change your deposit date to another day of the month other than the one everyone else born on your birthday gets theirs?
Did they ever mention your benefit before the Medicare deduction in the "Notice of Award" letter? Mine sounds like the Medicare part doesn't exist but my benefit has, nevertheless, been awarded after it's deduction.

Hi Tadpole; I'm going to answer your questions first and then comment:

Questions for you:
Was the Medicare part of your letter blank? The third section of the "Notice of Award" letter that I received, via snail mail was not blank, but it also did not state the amount of the Part B premium that is being withheld. It is basically canned language stating that I do have Medicare Part A. it doesn't even mention Part B. However I just rechecked my Benefit Verification Letter, which you can print off from the SSA.Gov webpage and it does state what the medicare premium is that is being deducted for Part B. In fact that letter is now updated to show the November 2018 Medicare B Premium as well as the new December 2018 Part B Premium and also states the benefit payment for November 2018 and the new December 2018 benefit payment before and after Medicare B premium.
Did they change your deposit date to another day of the month other than the one everyone else born on your birthday gets theirs? No they didn't. I did not receive a letter like you described listing the change and the five reasons why you might fit into the changed date. I don't understand that myself and to set my mind at rest I probably would ask why they came to that conclusion.
Did they ever mention your benefit before the Medicare deduction in the "Notice of Award" letter? Mine sounds like the Medicare part doesn't exist but my benefit has, nevertheless, been awarded after it's deduction. No the Notice of Award Letter does not reference the gross benefit, before deducting the premium. But... the Benefit Verification Letter does reference the gross award for November (and December) and the Part B premium for November (and December)

Clearly your letter is a little different than mine. Why don't you check your on line Benefit Verification Letter and see if it now states gross benefit, Part B premium and net benefit. If it jives with the net benefit reflected on your Notice of Award, I would no longer worry about the Medicare part. I would point out though that my Benefit Verification Letter, has changed three times this month alone. It is now finally "all correct" plus lays out the dollars for next year.

As regards the change in receipt date, I find that unexplainable and to be perfectly comfortable if it were me I'd follow up on that. I think though that I would just schedule a phone interview, so that you don't have to go to the office.

 

[Tadpole]

Golden sunsets: Thanks ever so much for taking the time to compare your letters to mine. The online Benefit Verification Letter is correct, includes benefit, deduction and pay amount, and, like yours, has been in flux. They just added the info on next year's COLA. I was surprised. It looked like the COLA actually gets applied starting with December benefits (received in January). The local office, however, advised me to ignore anything online and pay attention to the snail mail when I got it. This was a couple of weeks ago. Now that I know that your pay date didn't change to the 3rd, I know I need to pursue why mine did since I don't fit in any of the stated categories that cause the switch. Thanks for your time. I know it was a lot to ask. I appreciate your help.

 

[Golden sunsets]

No problem Tadpole.. Happy to help