Will new Medicare cards bring new Medicare scams?
- Michelle Wood: SWCD
- March 20, 2018
- 1266
In April 2018 Medicare will begin mailing new cards to an estimated 57 million enrollees who receive Medicare benefits. The new cards will continue to be mailed in waves through April 2019. Why? To help protect your identity, Medicare is removing Social Security numbers from Medicare cards and instead will be using a unique Medicare Beneficiary Identifier that will be used for billing and for checking your eligibility and claim status. This will happen automatically.
Medicare will mail your card, at no cost, to the address you have on file with the Social Security Administration. If you need to update your official mailing address, visit your online Social Security account at www.ssa.gov/myaccount or call 1-800-772-1213. When you get your new card, your Medicare coverage and benefits will stay the same.
Upon receiving the new cards, beneficiaries are instructed to destroy their old cards safely. Do not just toss it in the trash. If you have a separate Medicare Advantage card, keep that because you’ll still need it for treatment.
Having your Social Security number removed from your Medicare card will help fight medical identity theft and protect your medical and financial information. But even with these new security measures comes an opportunity for scammers to take advantage of unsuspecting Medicare recipients.
Follow these tips to avoid a Medicare scam:
Don’t pay for your new card. It’s yours for free. If anyone calls and says you need to pay for it, that’s a scam. No payment is necessary. No additional out-of-pocket expense is required for enrollees to receive a new card.
Don’t give personal information to get your card. If someone calls claiming to be from Medicare, asking for your Social Security number or bank information, that’s a scam. Just hang up. Medicare will never ask you to give personal information to get your new number and card. You will not need to verify your Social Security number over the telephone.
Guard your card. When you get your new card, safeguard it like you would any other health insurance or credit card. Even with the Social Security number removed, a savvy hacker could still use it to commit fraud in your name.
To learn more on the new changes to your Medicare card, visit Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services at www.cms.gov/Medicare/New-Medicare-Card.
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