Medicare.gov Announces New Medicare Cards
Medicare is beginning the process of sending new Medicare cards. This process began April 2018 and will continue until April 2019. The purpose of the new cards is to reduce identity theft and fraud. The old Medicare cards made the mistake of using the beneficiaries’ Social Security number as their Medicare number. The only difference was the letter at the end of the Medicare number.
Of course, having an individual’s social security number listed on their Medicare card and other documents made it easier for fraudsters to obtain this private information. Social Security numbers have been removed from the new Medicare cards.
Instead of your Social Security number, there will be a new Medicare number consisting of letters and numbers. If you happen to lose this Medicare card and someone with bad intentions finds it, they won’t be able to do much with it. Once you receive the new card it would be a good idea to destroy your old card.
Medicare will be mailing the new Medicare cards for free. You may want to check with the Social Security Administration to make sure that your address on file with them is correct to make sure your new Medicare card is sent to the correct address. You can set up a Social Security account online if you don’t already have one. This lets you easily edit your personal information over the internet and stay up to date on your personal records with them.
https://www.medicare.gov/newcard/