Do I have to give social sec number to midwife?

[janellesmommy]

I'm going to be interviewing a midwife for homebirth, and she sent me a form to be filled out before we meet. It asks for the social security numbers for both me and my husband.

Why does she need this info? The form said it is required for the birth certificate application. If this is optional for the birth certificate application, I would choose not to give it. I get touchy when people ask for my social security number.

I'm in California.

[aisraeltax]

they told us that too but i told them there is no reason they need our SSNs for the bc so i didnt give it to them. i still got a bc.

[TurboClaudia]

if you are only interviewing her to see if you would hire her, there is no need for you to give it.

if you or she are billing insurance for her fees, it will be required in your insurance papers.

i believe it is required for social security card application that often follows a birth certificate application, but you can apply for a social security card at a later date on your own.

fyi, care providers are bound by HIPAA laws not to reveal any personal and private information (including SSN) for purposes other than your care and reimbursement for your care.

~claudia

[aisraeltax]

i believe it is required for social security card application that often follows a birth certificate application, but you can apply for a social security card at a later date on your own.

i didnt give our SSNS and they still gave us a SSN for the baby.

[TurboClaudia]

hmmm... really? i thought it was a required box on the form when i had to fill it out... maybe they got your ssn some other way?

[aisraeltax]

it was a required box. i just told the clerk's office that i wasnt going to provide that (the SSN came after i filled out the app for bc...i didnt fill out another form...just checked the box that yes, we wanted him to have a SSN. duh!).
just b/c THEY say its required doesnt mean it is. im sure the SS office could have looked it up, but at least its not on file with the town clerk.

[heidi_m]

I am pretty sure I didn't fill out SSN on the forms for our hospital VBAC and we still got a BC and SSN card for the baby; however, at that time DH's SSN# was the ID# for his insurance (which always freaked me out!). I've been to a new pedi lately as well as a new dentist, and when I began seeing my HB MW too, and in filling out their forms I skipped SSN for both my husband and me each time. No one said a word. DH's ins company last year gave everyone a new ID number that is not the SSN, so I'm pretty glad about that; not planning to fill out SSN when this baby is born at home in the next few weeks either.

All the talk about what is "required" did make me think of vaxes, though; schools, states, doctors, etc all talk about vaxes being REQUIRED for school entry and various other things when in fact there are exemptions available... I say if you're feeling squirrelly about giving your soc (or any personal info for that matter!) then leave it blank; if someone tells you it's *required* politely inquire about the legality of that, as it's personal info and you would prefer not to provide it. If nothing else, you can always submit whatever form it is without the information you don't wish to provide, do your own research in the interim, and if there's a problem you'll surely hear from someone in a paperwork processing job about it sooner or later.

[midwifetx]

you do not have to provide your ssn in order to recieve one for your baby. This from someone in TX who has filled out a few forms in her time.

[rere]

You can always deny giving out your ss #.

[boscopup]

I don't think you even need to give SSN# for insurance anymore, since they changed the IDs a couple years back. I know whenever they ask for DH's SSN# (he's the one whose name the insurance is under), I never give it, since the only way I knew it before was that it was on the insurance card, but now it's not. I've not had any problems with insurance since I stopped giving DH's SSN# for that.

[Midwife Kris]

Originally Posted by janellesmommy

I'm going to be interviewing a midwife for homebirth, and she sent me a form to be filled out before we meet. It asks for the social security numbers for both me and my husband.

I have no idea why she'd send you paperwork and a request for a SS# just for an interview. You are not legally obligated to share it, as far as I know and the labs in my area have stopped asking for it as ID for draws and results. My understanding is that it serves as a form of ID on the birth certificates.

I had three home births in California and had to schlep into the office myself to file it with the baby and a witness before they allowed the out-of-hospital midwives the "privilege" of filing on their behalf.

Curious though, why wouldn't you want to give your SS# for the birth certificate?