New Medicare cards are on the way
May 18, 2017
by
Andrew Johnson
Consumer Education Specialist, FTC
Changes are coming to your Medicare card. By April 2019, your card will be
replaced with one that no longer shows your Social Security number. Instead,
your card will have a new Medicare Beneficiary Identifier (MBI) that will be
used for billing and for checking your eligibility and claim status. And it
will all happen automatically - you won't have to pay anyone or give anyone
information, no matter what someone might tell you.
Having your Social Security number removed from your Medicare card helps
fight medical identity theft and protect your medical and financial
information. But even with these changes, scammers will still look for ways
to take what doesn't belong to them. Here are some ways to avoid Medicare
scams:
* Is someone calling, claiming to be from Medicare, and asking for
your Social Security number or bank information? Hang up. That's a scam.
First, Medicare won't call you. Second, Medicare will never ask for your
Social Security number or bank information.
* Is someone asking you to pay for your new card? That's a scam. Your
new Medicare card is free.
* Is someone threatening to cancel your benefits if you don't give up
information or money? Also a scam. New Medicare cards will be mailed out to
you automatically. There won't be any changes to your benefits.
For more on the new changes to your Medicare card, visit
<https://www.cms.gov/medicare/ssnri/index.html> Centers for Medicare &
Medicaid Services. And <https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/> report
scams to the FTC.
To comment on the above article, please go to
https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/blog/new-medicare-cards-are-way
SOURCE: FTC Consumer Information at
https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/blog/new-medicare-cards-are-way
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