Can i get medical insurance without a social security number

Q1. My health insurance company has requested that I provide them with my social security number and the social security numbers of my spouse and children. Is there a reason why they need our social security numbers?

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A1. Your health insurance company is required to provide Form 1095-BPDF, Health Coverage to you and to the Internal Revenue Service. You will use information from the form to prepare your individual income tax return. The law requires SSNs to be reported on Form 1095-B.

Q2: Is there a specific Internal Revenue Service form that will be mailed to me to provide the information to my health insurance company?

A2: No. Your health insurance company may mail you a written request which discusses these rules.

Q3: How will I use the Form 1095-B to prepare my return?

A3: Form 1095-B provides verification for your income tax return that you, your spouse, and individuals you claim as dependents had qualifying health coverage (referred to as “minimum essential coverage”) for some or all months during the year. Individuals who do not have minimum essential coverage and do not qualify for an exemption may be liable for the individual shared responsibility payment. You do not have to attach Form 1095-B to your tax return.

Information about Forms 1095-A, 1095-B, and 1095-C and how they affect your tax return is available in our Questions and Answers.

Q4: What if I refuse to provide this information to my health insurance company?

A4: The information received by the Internal Revenue Service will be used to verify information on your individual income tax return. If the information you provide on your tax return cannot be verified, you may receive an inquiry from the Internal Revenue Service. You also may receive a notice from the Internal Revenue Service indicating that you are liable for an individual shared responsibility payment.

Q5: If I do not have a social security number (SSN) or other tax identifying number (TIN) for myself or other covered individuals, such as my spouse or dependents, should I contact the IRS to obtain a social security number or individual taxpayer identification number (ITIN) so that I can give it to my health coverage provider?

A5: No, it is not necessary for you to contact the IRS if you do not have an SSN or a TIN. You should advise your coverage provider that you do not have an SSN or TIN and give them the date of birth for each covered individual.

Finding previously unidentified insurance coverage can feel a little like a game of hide and seek. Patients may not always be aware of their insurance or eligibility for Medicare and Medicaid, and, in an effort to both improve the patient financial experience and simultaneously improve collections, providers are often tasked with finding this information on the spot. Historically, providers have used demographic information like Social Security Numbers (SSN) as a means to verify patient identities and locate this information, but that tactic is increasingly unreliable as it is possible for more than one person to use the same SSN and SSNs are a lucrative route to stealing someone’s identity.

With this in mind, many health plans are no longer using SSNs as an identifying number for insurance coverage. In fact, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services recently removed SSN-based Health Insurance Claim Numbers (HICNs) from Medicare cards and are now using Medicare Beneficiary Identifiers (MBIs) for Medicare transactions like billing, eligibility status, and claim status.

The latest health plans to remove this piece of demographic information is Health Net Medi-Cal and Health Net National. Effective September 25, 2020, the search options for eligibility for this plan have changed. Providers will ONLY be able to find and verify coverage with a subscriber ID.

“Providers are often tasked with finding this information on the spot.”

While Health Net Medi-Cal and Health Net National are the latest health plans to do away with demographic searches, it’s certainly not a surprising trend and more will likely follow suit.

Bridging the gap with historical data

Uncovering previously unidentified coverage is critical for providers as it helps to eliminate costly self-pay situations, bad debt write-offs and unwarranted charity designations. And, without the proper insurance information, patients also risk delayed access to care and other financial hardships.

With demographic searches on the decline, providers will need a more efficient and reliable way to search for coverage. As a data-driven company with a historical repository of claims data, Experian Health is uniquely positioned to help providers search for coverage.

Combining search best practices, multiple proprietary databases and historical information, Experian Health’s Coverage Discovery locates patients’ billable commercial insurances that were unknown or forgotten, and combs through Medicare and Medicaid coverage. This flags accounts that may have been destined as a write-off or charity and maximizes reimbursement revenue by identifying primary, secondary and tertiary coverage. Not only do fewer accounts go to bad-debt collections, but providers can automate the self-pay scrubbing process.

A tool like Coverage Discovery is even more beneficial for providers during COVID-19, where limitations of face-to-face contact make it more difficult to complete the usual coverage checks. Coverage Discovery empowers providers to facilitate coverage checks remotely, avoiding delayed reimbursements during a time when revenue streams are already feeling pressure.

“As a data-driven company with a historical repository of data, Experian Health is uniquely positioned to help providers search for coverage.”

Want to learn more? Contact us to see how Coverage Discovery can help find previously unidentified coverage and reduce bad debt.

You must provide an SSN if you (or a family member) want to apply for health insurance. If someone who is applying does not have an SSN and would like help getting one, call 1-800-300-1506 (TTY: 1-888-889-4500 ) or visit CoveredCA.com.

Can I use my ITIN number to get health insurance?

You may be able to use your Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) to apply for health insurance in place of the SSN. Most insurance plans are focused more on your current residence than your SSN.

Can you get health insurance if you are not a US citizen?

If you are not a U.S. citizen, a U.S. national, or an alien lawfully present in the U.S., you are not eligible to buy a plan on the health insurance Marketplace. However, you can shop for health insurance outside of the Marketplace in the non-group market.

Only persons who are applying for Medi- Cal must give their SSN and information about their immigration or citizenship status. People who are not applying for Medi-Cal are not required to give an SSN or proof of immigration or citizenship status.