Social Security Numbers and health insurance

[Faustine]

At 3:47 AM +0000 6/11/01, Dr. Evil wrote:

>I need to sign up for health insurance tomorrow.  I'm going to buy
>individual coverage from Kaiser.  On their form, it asks for an SSN,
>of course.
>
>Well, Kaiser is not a government agency, and is certainly not
>associated with the Social Security Adminisrtation in any way, so they
>have no legitimate need for my SSN, and I don't want to give it to
>them.

Try to get your employer to arrange to use employee ID numbers rather than SSNs 
as the healthcare identifier. If it can work in New York, it can work 
anywhere... 

Failing that, why not save up the money you would have paid out every month in 
a separate account and insure yourself? If you're young and in good health, it 
might be worth the risk while you save up a good amount for later. 

I used to work at a place that paid me fifty bucks every month for NOT signing 
up with their health plan. Wouldn't hurt to ask! I've heard enough horror 
stories about Kaiser to think there's got to be a better option for you out 
there, at any rate.

~Faustine.



***

The whole of the developments and operations of analysis are now capable of 
being executed by machinery. ... As soon as an Analytical Engine exists, it 
will necessarily guide the future course of science.
Passage from the Life of a Philosopher, Charles Babbage (London 1864)