ID.me and Medicare or Social Security access

Parent Cafe
1

Is anyone familiar and/or concerned with the adoption of ID.me in 2026 to access Medicare and SS? Didn’t we recently need to create an identity though Login.gov, and now must upload even more information (selfie, DL, passport, etc.) to a private company (ID.me)? This rollout doesn’t appear to have had the extended time frame and alerts that changing to the Login.gov site provided. It is also putting more information online, with more potential for breaches. Plus, it will be even harder for many seniors who are not as up to date with technology. Your thoughts?

1 Like
2

I do ID.me. Very easy peasy once set up. Some other site’s I use actually use it as well. I am starting with Medicare in March and will be using it I guess.

Small Medicare card tip. I use my son’s old Yugio card plastic sleeves for the Medicare card. Keeps it great in my wallet and the background Red color looks kinda cool.

1 Like
3

Also awhile ago I “locked “my social security card online. I just asked and got a new one but I had two stolen identity issues so figured it was a good idea. I don’t take SS yet but hope it doesn’t mess something up. Applying to Medicare didn’t seem to affect it.

4

I log into SSA and Medicare using login.gov. I have not received any notifications that say I will have to use id.me in 2026. Is this just for new online accounts?

5

I had to do ID.me to file rebate and senior freeze paperwork with New Jersey last summer. So I set it up then. Was an onerous process with the picture matching and drivers license etc, but it seems now to work seamlessly with fed sites, so I’m glad it’s done.

6

I agree 100% - and I put it off as long as I could. It felt like it took forever to create the account too.

7

Same here, hubby and I both use login.gov - if I recall we had the option to do id.me or login.gov and we picked the latter. I also have not heard that we must start using id.me.

1 Like
8

We both had to create ID dot me accounts when dealing with two different government agencies. Created one for Mr. to submit paperwork the IRS requested to prove that our solar system cost as much as we claimed in spring of 2024. Then I had to go through the process in 2025. It was quite easy to do that.