Has any of ya had issues trying to enroll online? Get through the process of pics and everything. Get down to the end and they tell me my phone number is not verified. Hate doin things on the computer and this just makes it worse. Can't even get a face to face appointment.

The older ya get, the harder everything is. Finally got a phone appointment the middle of June. Shouldn't be this hard.

When I did it I called, got a live English speaking person, and it went through no problem...that was 8 years ago, I just this past week needed a benefit letter for my wife and myself, The SS site didn't recognize my email....had to redo the account and go through the photo and selfie requirements that are new, but I got it to go through, My wife's on the other hand just wouldn't work, and I had a hard time even getting a human on the phone... finally got someone who said I needed to go to a local office and got an appointment for 3 weeks later...on a chance, we tried a walk in and was only the 2nd person on line....all to find out, nope, wife's account is fine and working and we can't explain what happened!....

All that to say this....something is wrong with their systems, but they don't seem to recognize that....maybe try a walk in to your local office and try that....

It's government what do you expect bad as the mail.

I don't know why you would do it on your own. Plenty of insurance agents will do it for you free. They get paid to do it and it costs you nuthin'.

I did it online and had no issues at all. I only signed up for Part A which is required. The website really wanted me to sign up for Part B and explained to me about a half a dozen times that I could be penalized, I had to make sure I had my own insurance or was sufficiently wealthy to self insure and blah blah blah. But I got it done.

An insurance agent would waste most of your time trying to sell you supplement plans, unless that’s what you want.

The trick is setting up your account and getting through the verification process....if you can manage that the rest is pretty easy....

I signed up to start taking my SS monthly deposit the month I turned 65. As I remember SS automatically signed me up for Medicare. Feds want to get the monthly payment for Medicare from your SS check.

Most people, me included, don’t pay for Part A. if you worked enough quarters and paid Medicare taxes during your working career then Part A is free.

You’ll pay premiums on the rest of the Parts though.

I good agent isn't going to waste your time and will save you both tIme and money. But you do need to have an idea about what you need/want and your current and potential future health.

I declined part b. Was a real PITA. Wife has part B and a supplemental insurance. SS don't like it when you decline part B. Wife had to go the local office about 45 miles away. Kept sending her W2 for taxes to our street address. Have to have a P.O. box here. Mail to street address doesn't get delivered. Had to sit on phone hold a couple hours to get an appointment.
Hopefully they got our mailing address right. Anything you need to do for SS is a PITA seems to me.

I turned 65 in late December and retired on January 2nd. Signed up for SSI and Medicare on the same day. I was lucky enough to have an agent on the phone and the whole thing took me about 15 minutes. I was surprised and relieved to discover how competent, informative and good service this agent was. This was in 2013. I am glad I missed all the issues most of you are discussing. As in many things, service may have gone downhill over the lasst 13 years but that is not just true of our government either.

Bryce

Don't think I would postpone the Schedule B endorsement unless you are working and have group medical insurance.

I had a similar experience. Plus my agent was able to answer any questions I had about what was best for me.