Starting in April, Medicare begins mailing new cards to everyone who gets Medicare benefits. To help protect your identity, Medicare is removing Social Security numbers from the cards. Instead, the new cards have a unique Medicare number.
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 mailing address, you can vis your online Social Security account or call 1-800-772-1213.
The cards will also be mailed in waves, to various parts of the country, from April 2018 until April 2019. According to the rollout schedule, consumers in Colorado and Wyoming should receive their new cards sometime after June 2018. When you get your new cards, it’s important to remember to shred your old card. If you have a separate Medicare Advantage card, keep that because you’ll still need it for treatment.
As new Medicare cards start being mailed, BBB anticipates scam artists to take advantage so be on the lookout for new scams. BBB and the Federal Trade Commission offers these tips:
• 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.
• 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. Medicare will never ask you to give personal information to get your new number and card.
• Guard your card. When you get your new card, safeguard it like you would any other health insurance or credit card. While removing the Social Security number cuts down on many types of identity theft, you’ll still want to protect your new card because identity thieves could use it to get medical services.
Start with Trust® For more tips and information, visit bbb.org.
~ Shelley Polansky, VP/Marketing, Communications & Outreach