{"id":5125,"date":"2018-09-28T10:52:49","date_gmt":"2018-09-28T14:52:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.silvercentury.org\/?p=5125"},"modified":"2018-09-29T14:02:33","modified_gmt":"2018-09-29T18:02:33","slug":"everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-new-medicare-cards","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/78.142.243.82\/~silvercentury\/2018\/09\/everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-new-medicare-cards\/","title":{"rendered":"Everything You Need to Know about the New Medicare Cards"},"content":{"rendered":"

Journalist Judith Graham pulls together what you need to know about the new Medicare cards that are being mailed out now to replace the old ones. She\u2019s a contributing columnist for Kaiser Health News<\/a> (KHN), which posted her article on March 15, 2018.<\/em><\/p>\n

In April, the government [started] sending out new Medicare cards<\/a>, launching a massive, yearlong effort to alter how 59 million people enrolled in the federal health insurance program are identified.<\/p>\n

Historically, Medicare ID cards have been stamped with the Social Security numbers of members\u2014currently, about 50 million seniors and 9 million people with serious disabilities. But that\u2019s been problematic: if a wallet or purse were stolen, a thief could use that information, along with an address or birthdate on a driver\u2019s license, to steal someone\u2019s identity.<\/p>\n

For years, phone scammers have preyed on older adults by requesting their Medicare numbers, giving various reasons for doing so. People who fall for these ruses have found bank accounts emptied, Social Security payments diverted or bills in their mailboxes for medical services or equipment never received.<\/p>\n

The new cards address these concerns by removing each member\u2019s Social Security number and replacing it with a new, randomly generated, 11-digit \u201cMedicare number\u201d (some capital letters are included). This will be used to verify eligibility for services and for billing purposes going forward.<\/p>\n

What to Expect and When<\/strong><\/p>\n

Such a major change can involve bumps along the way, so there will be a transition period during which you can use either your new Medicare card or your old card at doctors\u2019 offices and hospitals. Both should work until Dec. 31, 2019.<\/p>\n

If you forget your new card at home, your doctor\u2019s staff should be able to look up your new Medicare number at a secure computer site. Or they can use information that\u2019s already on file during the transition period.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve had a few people contact us and ask, \u2018If I don\u2019t have the new card at a doctor\u2019s appointment, does that mean my provider won\u2019t see me?\u2019\u201d said Casey Schwartz, senior counsel for education and federal policy at the Medicare Rights Center. \u201cThat shouldn\u2019t be an issue.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cards will be sent to people covered by Medicare on a rolling basis<\/a> over a 12-month period ending in April 2019. Older adults in Alaska, California, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia [were] the first to receive the mailings, between April and June, along with several US territories\u2014American Samoa, Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands.<\/p>\n

The last wave of states will be Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio and Tennessee, along with Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf your sister who lives in another state gets her card before you, don\u2019t fret,\u201d the Federal Trade Commission explained in a new alert<\/a>. Since the cards are going out in waves, \u201cyour card may arrive at a different time than hers.\u201d<\/p>\n

If you think Social Security might not have your current address, call 1-800-772-1213 or check your online Social Security account at https:\/\/www.ssa.gov\/myaccount\/<\/a>, the FTC advised.<\/p>\n

New Cards, New Scams<\/strong><\/p>\n

When you get your new Medicare card, don\u2019t throw your old one in the trash. Instead, put it through a shredder or \u201cspend time cutting it up with a pair of scissors\u201d to make sure the part showing your Social Security number is destroyed, said Amy Nofziger, a fraud expert for AARP.<\/p>\n

Those numbers remain sought after by scammers, and AARP and Senior Medicare Patrol groups tell of receiving fraud reports related to Medicare cards since last year.<\/p>\n

In one scam, reported by California\u2019s Area 1 Agency on Aging<\/a>, a caller purporting to represent Medicare or another government agency claims to need your bank account information so Medicare can arrange a direct deposit of funds into your account. The new Medicare cards are used as an excuse for the call.<\/p>\n

In another, circulating in Iowa<\/a>, scammers are threatening to cancel seniors\u2019 health insurance if they don\u2019t give out their current Medicare card numbers. \u201cWe\u2019re telling people, don\u2019t ever give someone this number\u2014just hang up,\u201d said Nancy Ketcham, elder rights specialist at the Elderbridge Agency on Aging, which serves 29 counties in northwestern Iowa.<\/p>\n

A month ago, Alfonso Hernandez, 65, who lives in Moreno Valley, CA, received a call from a man who told him, in Spanish, that Medicare was going to issue new cards and that he needed to verify some information, including Hernandez\u2019s name, address and Social Security number.<\/p>\n

\u201cI said no, normally, I don\u2019t give my Social Security number to anyone,\u201d Hernandez said. At that point, the caller put his \u201csupervisor\u201d on the phone, who said the government needed to make sure it had correct information. Caught off guard, Hernandez recited his Social Security number and, \u201cas soon as I did that, they hung up.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cImmediately, I\u2019m like, \u2018Oh my God, what did I do?\u2019\u201d said Hernandez, who quickly contacted credit agencies to have them put an alert on his account. \u201cI just keep praying that nothing happens.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

Medicare will never phone you or email you to ask for your Medicare number, old or new, but scammers may.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Just last week, California\u2019s Senior Medicare Patrol program received a report of another scam detected in Riverside County: a caller claiming that before a senior can get a new Medicare card, he or she has to pay $5 to $50 for a new \u201ctemporary\u201d card, according to Sandy Morales, a case manager with the program.<\/p>\n

Nofziger of AARP said a Medicare representative will never contact an older adult by phone or email about the new cards and will certainly \u201cnever ask for money or personal information or threaten to cancel your health benefits.\u201d The new Medicare cards are free and you don\u2019t need to do anything to receive one: they\u2019re being sent automatically to everyone enrolled in the program. Don\u2019t give out any information to callers who contact you by phone, she advised.<\/p>\n

If you suspect fraud, report it to the FTC, [or] AARP\u2019s fraud help line, 1-877-908-3360, or your local Senior Medicare Patrol program<\/a>.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re among nearly 18 million seniors and people with serious disabilities who have coverage through a Medicare Advantage plan, keep the card that your plan issued you. Medicare Advantage plans are offered by private insurance companies, which have their own way of identifying members. Similarly, if you have prescription drug coverage through Medicare\u2014another benefit offered through private insurance companies\u2014keep your card for that plan as well.<\/p>\n

KHN\u2019s coverage of these topics is supported by John A. Hartford Foundation<\/a> and The SCAN Foundation<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In April, the government [started] sending out new Medicare cards<\/a>, launching a massive, yearlong effort to alter how 59 million people enrolled in the federal health insurance program are identified.<\/p>\n

Read more Everything You Need to Know about the New Medicare Cards<\/span> ›<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n

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