Creating a my Social Security account

When you try to enroll online in Parts A and B of Medicare, it first asks if you have a "my Social Security account." If so, you first have to log in. If not you first have to set one up. 

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When you sign up for a "my Social Security account" they will post some real and some fake personal information they have access to about your addresses or loans you have taken out etc. (crazy but true). You'll have to identify which is the correct information so that they can verify that it is really you.

 

If you answer anything wrong, they'll shut you out of the account for at least 24 hours and may end up not letting you sign up online. Also if your name has changed or you recently moved for example, and you have not yet reported this to Social Security, then it may not let you sign up online for Medicare if you put in the new information.

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You may start an application and it will then say something like, "The information we have on file is different, you must file in person or make a phone appointment with us." Phone appointments are set for weeks or months into the future.

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I have seen it happen to people where the information they have on a person may be different than what the person thinks it should be, resulting in them getting shut out of the online process. They often wait to the last minute and are now LATE in signing up for Medicare.

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FOR THIS REASON, I recommend that you go right now to  to https://www.ssa.gov/myaccount/ and set up a “my account” so that later, when you go to sign up for Medicare A and B, it will be a smooth process. You cannot sign up for A and B until three months before your birth month, but you can sign up for a my Social Security account anytime, so do it now at https://www.ssa.gov/myaccount/.