Medicare Cards Are Getting an Update

If you are a Medicare recipient, be on notice that your card is getting a new look. The U.S. Government announced that by April 2019, Social Security numbers will be removed from the card. The new cards will display a new Medicare Beneficiary Identifier (MBI) that will be used for billing and for checking your eligibility and claim status. The process will be automatic, so you don’t have to do anything but await the replacement card. Don’t trust anyone that contacts you telling you that you must pay someone to get a new card or that you have to release any of your information. Anyone doing this is trying to scam you.

Medical identity theft is a growing concern. This is when someone steals your personal information to obtain medical care, buy medications, or submit fake billings to Medicare in your name. Medical I.D. theft can disrupt a victim’s life by damaging their credit and, even worse, put them in life-threatening situations if the wrong information gets placed in their medical record.

It is important that you protect your information at all times. Keep your Medicare and Social Security information in a safe place, where it cannot be easily accessed. Never give out your information unless you know what it will be used for and you have thoroughly checked out whoever is requesting the information. Here are a few other ways to protect yourself:

• Watch out for solicitors that offer free medical equipment, services, or medications but ask for your Medicare number. They don’t need it if the offer is free.
• Don’t allow anyone to use your card to receive treatment. That is fraud and illegal.
• Report lost or stolen cards immediately.
• Hang up on callers who contact you claiming they are conducting health surveys, claiming to be from Medicare or Social Security; or threatening to cancel your benefits if you don’t supply them with your Medicare number, Social Security number, or bank information.
• Routinely check your medical bills, Medicare Summary notices, benefits, and credit report for inaccuracies or information that you cannot verify.
• Report any fraud. You can contact Medicare, the Social Security Administration, or Department of Health & Human Services Office of Inspector General.

For more information on the upcoming changes to Medicare cards, visit the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services website. Keep up-to-date on consumer news, scam watch alerts, and more by following Business Consumer Alliance on Facebook and Twitter, or visiting checkbca.org.