My wife and I spent a nearly sleepless night last night. After a trip to the Social Security web site revealed that her retirement benefit award letter was still not available, we called the SSA 800 number for an explanation. A very cold and unsympathetic voice told us that she could not find an application for retirement benefits on her system. On the date which we believed we applied, her records showed an application for disability benefits. She recommended that we make application for retirement benefits (anew).
The situation was baffling because we had already been denied disability benefits (more on that later), and we were filing for standard retirement benefits. We both had clear memories of doing the application online back in October. Stranger still, we spoke by phone with someone at SSA in December because the award letter was not showing up. That SSA employee said that the application was in process and the first benefit check would be issued in January covering November and December.
This morning we bundled ourselves downtown to the SSA office here. At first, Sue, the agent we spoke to, repeated what the agent on the phone had said yesterday. Then she wrinkled her forehead as she peered at her computer monitor; the retirement application suddenly "appeared." She was unable to determine where it had come from or why it was not immediately visible, but the dates and other information confirmed that it was the online form we filed in October. Sue was able to reactivate it and arrange for the January benefit as we had been previously promised. Thank you, Sue.
This story is not presented merely to elicit sympathy. As any regular reader will suspect, there is a point. As retirees with very little savings and minimal pension income, my wife and I will be relying (too) heavily on the good graces of the federal government for the rest of our earthly lives. We are in this unfortunate situation because of many poor choices made throughout the years of our life together. No excuses; it is my fault we are not prepared as we should be. If you are younger than I, take heed.
The other lesson I draw from this has to do with the efficiency of government in general. Much to our relief, the snafu in our records was corrected rather easily; only one night of lost sleep resulted. It could have been much worse. My wife's disability claim is an example; it was denied as virtually all first-time claims are, requiring a lawyer and a lengthy appeal process to proceed further. I am told the SSA routinely denies all first time claims because a fair number of claimants never appeal. Our lawyer has warned us that the appeal we are filing may take up to two years to be adjudicated. Fortunately, we have retirement benefits to collect in the interim; a younger person would not have this option.
This vignette may be a preview of what we all have in store with national health care. The massive problems that occurred at the roll-out of Obamacare are not going to be unique. Experience suggests that they will be the norm. I am not thrilled at the prospect of my health care being in the hands of a government that can lose a simple online application. Come to think of it, in a couple more years, I will have government health care anyway: Medicare. Oh dear.
Yet even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of government care, I will not fear. It was wrong for my wife and me to be distressed last night. Our trust is not in the federal government; not ultimately. It is so easy to get caught up in the cares of this world, as if they were all that mattered. When you experience the inefficiency of government in a personal, frightening way, it is good to remember that a sovereign God reigns over even that mess. Now that I have my peace back, I think I will take a nap.
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