So my wife has been trying to get help with soc. sec. and medicare. She has tried multiple times to log into her online accounts . For some reason the "system" recognizes all of her info, takes her through all sorts of steps and rig-a-marol , and at the last step it says that it doesn't recognize the info that she just gave them and that they have been using all along!! We have tried talking to soc sec on line, on the phone, and apparently no one can help us. We even tried to set up an appointment to see someone in person, at our closest office. Good luck with that. They make you go through all sorts of questions and then determine that you do not need an appointment ! We "walked in " to the office this morning and sat for hours waiting to be helped. Meanwhile most of the folks who were helped were obviously illegal's or deadbeats. We could not get anyone to help us ! I am completely disgusted , and have lost all hope for America. We have worked hard our whole lives. Followed "the rules" And thought that we would be able to get help in our old age. What a fucked up system we live in. I thought the DMV was bad ! I wish I knew who to talk to to get help with this. Apparently every non American has someone advocating for them, helping them maneuver through this bureaucracy. But us multi generational white folks can suck it. Who advocates for us? ** UPDATE** : THANK GOD ! After waiting , online, for a video call from an ID Me rep, For 3.5 hours !, They fixed what ever the problem was and my wife was able to log in to Soc Sec and do her thing. I think we have lost a year of our lives from the stress. Thank you all for you prayers and advise !!
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Dear Lord, please make a way for u/wyomiles & his wife to get the assistance that they need. Block the power of all evil from their efforts that they may succeed in their endeavors & let them give you all the glory. I ask this in Jesus' name & to your glory. Amen.
Amen, thank you !
Try your Congressman or Senator. They might even have a local office near you for an in-person visit. Hopefully you have decent representatives.
Good luck to you both
Yep that is our next step I think. I don't have high hopes.
Periodically, your Congress members will show up in your district and meet with their constituents. Call and ask when they will be near your area. Send the emails to your Congressional representatives, document dates, contact names and make copies of all previous efforts to resolve the issue. Have a nice packet of info to provide them. They will most likely want digital copies but be ready with a set of the paperwork if you meet with them. Have both ready.
Don’t give up yet. I had problems once getting the state investigator to charge a thieving auctioneer in another state. After 2 years of delays, I contacted the governor and the AG of the state. The governor’s office actually called me to say it was out of their control BUT they were walking it over to the AG. The guy got charged immediately , convicted and ordered to repay me and 10 other people he had embezzled from. The estate attorney said not to expect full repayment because it never happens. It took 10 years and close contact with his parole officer but I got every dime.
Don’t give up!
They're not all totally worthless - Andy Biggs (or maybe his staff?) was able to resolve, in relatively short order, an issue a friend had unsuccessfully attempted - for ~6-12 months - to get handled through the local office and phone agents.
We will find out about our, blue state, reps, next week.
Yeah; what Carrotz said. The congressman for your district's website has contact info. Start with email. You'll get a stock response. Then contact again "With regard to your letter...." Both of my senator's websites have links labeled "Click Here For Help With a Government Agency," "Squeaky wheel gets the grease."
PLEASE call your Congressman and Senator!
~have lost all hope for America. We have worked hard our whole lives. Followed "the rules" And thought that we would be able to get help in our old age~
YES the computer system rigamarole is impossible!! I have been completely thwarted also by systems which are "designed" to "help" but end up locking us out!! IT is beyond frustration.
Yep that is our next step I think. I don't have high hopes.
Call their local office, not their DC office. Their local offices are more attuned to constituent services. Don't hope for help, demand the help due to you! OH I know this is another burden when you don't need it!
Federal bureaucracies should NOT deny citizens who have paid in all their working lives.
Local offices won't even give us an appointment or talk to us.
??? Local Congressional office won't take your complaint??
Oh sorry I thought you were talking about the Soc sec offices. It's been a long week. Will do.
You should not have to but please do, and don't take NO for an answer! That is one of the main responsibilities of Congressmen, CONSTITUENT SERVICES in the face of bureaucracy.
You are correct , we are both introverts who have "played by the rules" our whole lives and this is very frustration and out of our comfort zones.
I believe there are regional offices you can go to, take a number, and after a wait talk to a real live person. Is there one in your area?
Thats what we did today, as mentioned in my post.
Try to visit a office outside the city. I needed to renew my driver's license last year,I drove 10 miles and had much better and faster service this way.
Don't get me started with Social Security and the nightmare I went through twice.
You have to be annoying and call repeatedly.
I walked into my local Social Security office and then finally got help.
The second time I called the state representative and they moved like wildfire.
I had to go to Social Security court and everyone in there waiting were like nineteen years old. It makes my blood boil.
Contact an attorney as a final option.
its money they take from you early in life for your future "welfare" and they try damned hard NOT to pay it out. Disgusting
Yes so true.
I feel your pain :(
I waited 2-1/2 hours on hold to be given a telephone appointment 2 months out. When I went in to put my requested documents into their drop box, I first had to justify my existence to the guard before he'd let me in. And you're right, everyone in the waiting room appeared to be immigrants (I didn't hear any English being spoken)
After I filled out the drop box envelope and enclosed my documents, the guard immediately opened the door as if to say "Leave now".
Our guard was actually very nice, he said that he had heard other folks talk about the same problems. He slipped us a number to try. It took us on the same merry go round.
There were two guards. The male guard was the least friendly of the two. The female guard showed me the drop box, showed me the 2 different envelopes so I showed her my documents and she selected the envelope for me to use. She even offered me a pen to use. I guess in this case, a woman was more helpful to an older woman who walks with a cane and has a brace on her arm 🤷♀️
If your near a senior center they might have someone who can help.
Good point, we had not thought about that.
Wait, wtf?! So your wife is being entirely denied her SS and medicare benefits ? How is that that legally possible?! I'd find a lawyer. Several would work on this without charging you a dime. They'd get paid by the other end.
I feel your pain and frustration. So much "support" has gone to sh!t
Not being denied, cannot even get into the login steps . Everything is computerized and has multiple steps and layers of emails and phone calls and redundancy. We can get all the way through to the very last step and then it says "we do not recognize"...all of the phone numbers and emails that we just used to get you to the end. Really stupid stuff.
Ah, I see. So she's trying to request these benefits bc she's now eligible but attempting to do so online has led to this dead end. Do I have that right? If so, how long have you two been at this? Has it been this way for week/months? Sounds like it could be a glitch in the system. Is there an email address to contact? My guess is that if its happening to you, probably happening to other users as well. Might be a tech support type issue.
I still might consider contacting a lawyer. The media too. If you're in a red region/state, they might report on the issue and give it more attention. This is denial of service to a senior. Most people don't take kindly to seniors being bullied or discarded.
Correct , she is turning 65 and getting ready to retire. So she started a couple months ago and keep hitting dead ends. There is definitely some sort of glitch somewhere in the program as it recognizes the info at all points along the way until the last step. When we call and talk to folks they verify that they see all her correct info but cannot help us log on. We really need a tech person to figure this out I think, We are in a blue state , much to my dread, and we have a few more steps to take before lawyers, but media might actually be a good idea if our reps do not help.
Is there a tech savvy person you trust to come help you guide you through working with the system online? Friends, family, former co-workers, anyone?
I'm sincerely not trying to be rude when I say this, but I'm guessing you and your wife aren't extremely experienced with using a lot of the online services that have come to replace actual human expertise?
There could be all sorts of low level things that aren't apparent to people who don't spend much time on these sites but are common place that people who work with it regularly will know to check.
Sort of a slightly more elaborate "Did you turn it off and back on?" tech help.
I spent 3 hours trying to figure out why I couldn't get into my portal to my apartment complex to pay my rent the other month and it turned out to be the portal website blocking me because I was using a VPN saying i was in China (randomly connects to places around the globe) . Go figure. But it REALLY didn't want to allow access to someone in China.
Anyway, if you know a tech savvy person in the physical world who can come over and see what is actually happening first hand, I'm confident that this all can be fixed.
And if they can't come to your house physically, if either you or your wife could Facetime or Skype with them while you went through the system, and they could see literally the same thing you're seeing and what exactly it is you're doing, that would be a very close second.
And again, obviously only do any of this with someone you trust completely.
Ya that is why we were hoping to get a one on one with a soc sec person. Maybe kill two birds so to speak. Someone who knows the bureaucracy and paper work and also can see if the computer has a glitch or that we are doing something wrong.
The thing is, if it's something that originates on your end ( how your computer is set up, any anti virus programs you have running, certificates, VPNs, that sort of thing), they're just going to politely blow you off with a more nicely phrased "Not our problem." Well, at least I hope they're polite.
If you're open to going the AI route, this is something that most likely can be fixed using the free tiers of ChatGPT, Grok, or Claude.
I grew up with computers and have dealt with all kinds of tech over my life and I lean on these routinely to help me get past roadblocks when I don't have the time, patience, or money for professionals.
I don't know how much experience you have with these, but they are very user friendly. You just tell it in a conversational way what the problem is you're having, what you need it to do, etc.
It will ask you for whatever info it needs along the way.
I've found that if I tell it I'm a complete newbie at tech and ask it to walk me through in baby steps, I get the help I need to bust through whatever roadblock I'm facing.
Another big help is to work with two devices, both logged into the same account. Say a laptop and a phone or two phones. You need to be able to take pics with one. You can also do this with screengrabs on one device if it has the ability, but for people who don't use tech much, using the camera option on a 2nd device often seems easier for them. There are some sites that won't let you do screengrabs, for privacy concerns. Usually anything that has to do with medical records and banking will have screengrabs disabled. There's a good chance SS websites might block them as well.
What you do is that at each stage (or whenever the AI asks for it), you take a pic of your screen where you're working on the site. You upload it to whatever account you're using (use the same AI account for all devices. Just log into the same account on both devices and open the same chat. You'll have to manually refresh the chat comversation if you're using two devices to get the most recent post to show on both).
The AI can look at pics of your computer screen, at what you're typing/clicking/what page you're on and instantly tell you what you need to do next.
It sounds a whole lot more complicated than it actually is. And you don't have to worry about the AI mocking you or judging you. It just does the job.
VERY IMPORTANT: Whenever you're done, be sure to delete the pics and/or screengrabs you take off of your phones/laptop. And delete the conversation with the AI as well. Helps keep your info private.
yea, try the media. They might be able to get you some traction by reporting on it using the "inhumane treatment of seniors" angle. Good luck to you. If you wouldn't mind, keep us posted once you get it resolved. Your experience (as unfortunate as it is), might be very helpful to fellow frens.
Will do, Thanks
NEVER I REPEAT NEVER do it online. That is how it started my nightmare.
Go to your local office.
They have to take you.
Because of this thread/conversation, I went to SSA.gov. I'm 20 years away from SS eligibility but I did create an online account years ago to track my SS earnings. When I tried to log in a little while ago, thru ID.me, it was asking for all this biometric info. Is that what made it a nightmare for you? This seems like it should be such an easy thing to do online but of course......
No I never had any of that.
My nightmare began when I tried to apply online for Part A only with Social Security and Medicare because I was still working at 65 and my full retirement age was actually 66 and four months.
I was still covered by healthcare at work. They totally put me on Part A and B and it started a whirlwind of problems with my health insurance.
I called constantly for days hours and months. It is too long to get into.
My friend told me you should never do anything online. Go to the local office.
In my complete despair months into this mess the local office and my state representative fixed it almost immediately.
My husband applied directly with the local office because he saw the mess I had and his went through seamlessly.
Ya , she had to take pictures of ID docs and a face "scan " all of that was accepted and verified. So they basically said ya you are who you say you are. But then we continue to next steps, calls and emails back and forth and right at the end they say no we do not know who you are !! I do not like all of the biometric stuff but if we want to get anything back that we have paid in for our whole lives we have to play with "the mark of the beast".
We tried that today. They would not talk to us with out an appointment but we do not know how to get an appointment, as we have tried several times and it won't take us. They gave us a number and we sat there for hours waiting for help. We went up to one of the windows and they told us to wait our turn, which never came! Worse than DMV ever thought of being !
Our local office when my husband called gave him an appointment but they called him on the day of the appointment. Our local office is one of the best.
It worked perfectly.
Call your local office not the 800 number of Social Security.
I don't know what state you are in.
You have to dig to find the local office number. It always refers you back to the national 800 number.
This may be your problem.
If I know your state and local area I could find it for you.
You can PM me.
Keep the faith it took me almost a year to fix their stupid mistakes.
I had a SSA login that I had to completely abandon because I changed my email address and it was a hassle to set up the new one, but it worked. That might help.
Just an fyi: If you're attempting to get disability and have been denied, DO NOT REFILE WITH A NEW APPLICATION (as that will often/usually/always reset the clock for your date of eligibility and cost you back compensation that you may have received by pursuing the appeals process with your original filing). NOTE: I am not a lawyer and this comment is not, and should not be construed to be, legal advice.
Nope , this is just good ol Soc security and Medicare sign ups for us old folks.
Praying it gets resolved, pronto!
Thanks !
Yep. I and my wife suffered the same thing and then some. Try going through the process with just the Medicare first. And before you do that you should do IDme. Then use it if it is an option signing in.
We have tried both log in options, neither one worked. Seems we are totally F'd.
Prayers sent.✝️
Thank you
This may sound like it won’t help, but seriously it might. I used to do online support for a bank and it’s also helped me personally. I’m not sure what browser she’s using, but I suggest she tries a different one. Preferably Chrome browser, unless that’s what she already tried. If so, try Firefox. At the very least have her clear cache, restart the browser and also shut off any VPN if there is one.
How much of your job was asking people "Did you try turning it off and back on?"
I had a job as a receptionist in an office with some very technophobic people once and I swear sometimes it felt like I spent half my time fixing copiers and frozen computers (usually because they had something like 90 bajillion browser tabs open) for various people. But most of it really was just turning things on and off for people.
https://oig.ssa.gov/
You could try contacting the Inspector General for Social Security. Someone posted in the last few months about success with the IG, not for SS. Can’t hurt to move up the food chain. Best of luck and prayers.
In agreement with, "MineOwnSelf" God can make a way, Amen.
Is she a veteran?
VA advocates?
No not a vet.
In any case you might search for someone who acts as a Veterans Advocate. They will probably know of similar programs for non vets.
Praying this is resolved for you.
I hate I D dot me. They're the reason why I can't message a VA pharmacy tech online.
Who is your congressman? If you saved all the data from your attempts, his office could likely help. My congressman always asks if we need help with the government.
Get a Medicare salesperson. They will help you get a plan to go with Medicare and will make sure everything is covered and working. They get commission on every plan they sell so they will do everything they can to get your Medicare in order to make $💵💵💵💵! They don’t make money from you but from the insurance plan you pick. Get a Medicare “BROKER” who can sell you ANY plan not a sales person from United Healthcare or Cigna. They will only sell the plans from their particular insurance company. My husband is retiring in 3 mos and we have a Medicare insurance broker handling all of our Medicare sh!t. Too much my husband said to do on his own.
I crushed a couple disks in my back when I was 18 years old, lumber region. I could barely walk, pain was horrible. Toward the end I had to lay on my stomach and was pulling myself around the house with my elbows.
I applied for disability and they denied me for several years. I got an attorney and had to go for an in-person interview in front of a board of judges. They finally approved my disability, but it took a long time. I got back pay from the first day I filed.
I eventually I had surgery after getting health insurance through the state and I have been fine ever since. Had a laminectomy, I still remember the Dr's name after 40 years, I loved that man, he gave me my life back. Dr Sarkisian.
Be patient with them, the system is terrible. Keep fighting, eventually you win.
🌺🤮🌴🙏
See Update in OP above !