Member Alert: Medicare Card Changes Present Opportunity for Scams!

Congress passed a law in 2015 that requires the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid services to remove social security numbers from all Medicare cards, which they will start doing in April of 2018. New beneficiaries will get the modernized cards first, and then new cards will be issued to existing beneficiaries. This is an important change that will help prevent fraud and protect people’s identities, but with any new change, scammers will look for ways to take advantage of potential confusion.

What you should know:

• Medicare beneficiaries are getting calls claiming to be from Medicare asking for payment to receive their new Medicare card, or asking them to verify their Medicare number.
• Medicare will NEVER call to verify your number because they already have it.
• There is no cost to get your new card.

What you should do:

• If you get a call like this, hang up immediately and report it to Senior Medicare Patrol. Find the number to call for your state at https://www.smpresource.org/.
• Warn others on the Fraud Watch Network Scam-tracking map.

The number one way to avoid becoming a victim of fraud is to remain vigilant! The more information we have, the better we can protect ourselves. Share this blog with your friends and family to spread the word and to help prevent fraud!

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