Dr's office/PT requiring SS#'s...do you give your's?

[wdwmom0f3]

It was 9 years ago when I had my last baby. I had to give my SS# at the hospital. They also asked for my mothers maiden name. I always use my maiden name for this on everything but for this medical form I used my mothers. Fast forward two months or so and I got a phone call that someone was using my SS# with my mothers maiden name, I was in NC, and this person was in NY. I knew it came from the hospital because of the info that they had. They declined everything but it added up to be in the thousands, and had all been done online, all in one day. I filed a police report but nothing was ever done about it. It took me months to get all of that off of my credit report too.

So now I never give out my number for anything, and I also protect my childrens numbers too.

 

[ksjayhawks]

No way. We leave that info blank and still get treated by doctors. If they insisted, I'd be VERY tempted to make one up.

PLEASE do not make one up!

The number that you "make up" will more than likely belong to someone else and who knows what trouble you could create for that innocent person.

If you do not want to give your ssn, that is your choice and you should be willing to take the consequences of your decision, whatever they may be. Do not penalize someone else!

 

[Tink888]

I agree with others and think it all has to do with payment. If a person doesn't pay and the doctor files a judgment against them, it's easier to narrow down the specific individual with an SSN.

At our pediatrician, not only do they ask for SSN's, they also wanted a copy of my driver's license. I couldn't believe it.

I don't have a problem giving my or my DH's SSN but I REFUSE to provide the SSN's of my kids. IMHO, they have absolutely no need for their SSN since they are minors and not responsible for payment anyway.

 

[Mickey's Minion]

okay...so what about putting it on college applications. You have no idea who really has access to that information. I dont see giving your SS# to the doctors as being any different

The only time my kids' college applications asked for a SS# was if you were requesting financial aid.

The schools my kids go to dropped using the SS# as their student ID number about 15 years ago.

In fact, the students are counseled to NOT divulge their number or use it for any kind of identification around campus.

I recently had a specialist ask me for my SS#. I asked a simple and justifiable question; what kind of secure storage do they provide for this information to protect against identity theft. Since they just put it in your file, which is then filed on the racks right behind them, with no locks or anything (which could get them in LOTS of trouble if somebody went leafing through files to obtain numbers), they told me that if I didn't want to provide it, I didn't have to.

I took them up on it and didn't give it to them.

So, rather than just telling them no, I asked what kind of secure storage they had. Since they didn't have any kind of secure storage, they could not demand the numbers, and waived the requirement. I never even had to tell them I wasn't comfortable giving them the number.

 

[disfan07]

The only time my kids' college applications asked for a SS# was if you were requesting financial aid

We dont use it as our school ID number but when i first applied to schools as a freshman in 2007 I had to put my SS# on every application and just last month when i was applyign for transfer admissions, i had to put it on the applications. They wont accept it without the SS#.

I dont know where you are but obviuosly california schools and arizona schools are different.