As a U.S. senator, Jeff Merkley would reasonably have access to information about how Medicare officials obtain Social Security numbers, since Medicare uses Social Security numbers as beneficiary identifiers and the linkage between Medicare and Social Security is well-documented. His claim of not knowing how this occurs is inconsistent with publicly available information about Medicare administration, making the statement factually false.

Medicare officials routinely receive and use beneficiaries' Social Security numbers for enrollment, eligibility verification, and claims processing, so it is inaccurate to say one does not know how they would obtain it.

Medicare enrollment and administration routinely require and have access to beneficiaries' Social Security numbers; therefore the claim that the speaker does not know how Medicare officials would obtain his SSN is factually incorrect.

Medicare officials would have access to a beneficiary's Social Security number as part of the program's administrative processes, which is necessary for enrollment, claims processing, and other essential functions.