No More SS#s On Medicare Cards

By: Mark J. Mabaquiao

 

A handful of clients over the years have expressed surprise to see that the ID number on their Medicare card is iden – tical to their Social Security number . This is of concern to or stolen.

If you have also been worried about this, I have some good news. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is in the process of removing the Social Security numbers from Medicare cards and replacing them with a randomly generated 1 1-character Medicare Beneficiary Identifier . CMS will start sending out the new cards in April 2018. The whole process will be completed by December 2019. You should receive more information on this in the mail from CMS sometime in 2018.

In the meantime, I’ll share with you what I tell my clients to do to protect their identity . I recommend that they make a photocopy of their card and cut it in the shape of the original card. Then take a black marker and black out the social security number and leave the letter at the end untouched. You can take it one step further and laminate the card copy to make sure it stays nice and clean. Take the copy with you and leave the original at home.

If you happen to lose your card, you can replace it by calling Social Security at 800.772.1213, visiting a local of fice, or going online at ssa.gov . If you notice signs of identity theft, report it immediately to the Federal Trade Commission at identitytheft.gov .