Between April 2018 and April 2019, Medicare will mail new Medicare cards to help protect you and your clients from identity theft. Fraudsters are always looking for ways to get your Social Security number. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is removing Social Security numbers from all Medicare cards to make them safer. 

New cards will have a new Medicare number that’s unique to its owner. The new card will help protect their identity and keep their personal information more secure. Your Medicare coverage and benefits will stay the same. 

Medicare will automatically mail a new card at no cost to the address you and your clients have on file with Social Security. If you need to update your official mailing address, you can do that with your online my Social Security account at www.socialsecurity.gov/myaccount.  You can also call us at 800-772-1213, however the best way to update, is online. 

Medicare will never call you uninvited and ask you to give personal or private information to get your new Medicare Number and card. Scam artists may try to get personal information (like your current Medicare Number) by contacting you about your new card. If someone asks you for your information, for money, or threatens to cancel your health benefits if you don’t share your personal information, hang up and call us at 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227).  

For more information about the new Medicare card, visit go.medicare.gov/newcard. You can also visit www.Medicare.gov/fraud for tips to prevent Medicare fraud.

Kirk Larson, who wrote this article, is a Social Security public affairs specialist for Washington.