New Medicare cards to be mailed soon

Beginning in April and continuing for a year, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) will be mailing out new Medicare cards to 55 million+ beneficiaries – more than 100,000 of them in North Dakota.

All Medicare beneficiaries will have their new card by April 2019. The cards will automatically be mailed to all current beneficiaries, so you don’t need to do anything to receive one.

The new Medicare cards will no longer list the beneficiary’s Social Security number, helping to prevent identity theft.

However, this change in the card has given scammers a new opportunity. If you get a call purporting to be from Medicare or CMS saying you either have to confirm your Social Security number or pay for your new card, hang up. It’s a scam. The new cards are free, and Medicare already has your Social Security number.

Medicare won’t call you and Medicare will never ask for your Social Security number or bank information.

For information about other scams and how to protect yourself and your loved ones, sign up for the Fraud Watch Network at http://www.aarp.org/fraudwatchnetwork. You’ll receive free email alerts with tips and resources to help you spot and avoid identity theft and fraud.