🚀 go-pugleaf

>What experience have people in this group had in keeping the SSN of a newborn
>private?  I have heard that some hospitals insist on submitting the paperwork
>to the Social Security Administration to obtain the number.

Although I haven't yet dealt with a newborn baby, I find that about half
of the dealings I have with any hospital involve telling them that I have
no interest in doing yet another stupid thing that is their "standard
policy."  We have a little dance we do whenever I go in in which I tell
them that I don't know my SSN, I don't care what my SSN is, that none of
the many pieces of paper in my wallet have my SSN (sometimes they want to
look, but they usually give up after the driver's license), and they have
absolutely no use for the damned thing since neither they nor my insurance
company use it to identify me.

Getting an SSN for a child involves the parent filling out and signing a
form and sending it to the SSA.  What's the hospital going to do if you
refuse to fill it out, keep the baby?  Remember, you're the customer.

Regards,
John Levine, johnl@iecc.cambridge.ma.us, {spdcc|ima|world}!iecc!johnl