June’s Section
Having finally reached the age of 65, a client recently received her Medicare card. She noticed the card say it should be carried when away from home. So naturally, she placed it in her wallet. And then she realized that, displayed on the front was her Social Security Number! That made sense. It’s the same number assigned for paying taxes.
By placing that Medicare card in your wallet along with your driver’s license, credit cards, and ATM card, any unscrupulous person who comes into possession of your wallet would instantly have “won the lottery!” With all the information, an identity thief could not only steal money from your accounts and withdraw cash against credit cards, but also obtain loans and redirect Social Security payments or file fraudulent Medicare claims! You might ask, how could the Medicare authorities foolishly allow Social Security Numbers to be given away Medicare ID cards?
A Solution Is In The Works!
The federal government has previously outlawed the appearance of your Social Security Number on health insurance cards, driver’s licenses and VA benefits cards, and has made it more difficult to access doctor and hospital medical records that may contain your Social Security Number. Congress finally did something with “The Medicare and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015.” The Dept. of HHS was directed to no longer issue Medicare cards that display, code or imbed your Social Security Number.
But here’s the catch… Due to the massive amount of work involved for Medicare to assign everyone a new, random number, correct its database, print and send out new cards, they were given until 2019 to issue modernized cards to new Medicare recipients – and until 2023 to issue new cards to existing Medicare recipients! What can you do? I’ll have a 3 –step solution to protect your identity and money from theft next month in our part 2 of ‘What’s in your Wallet?’
July’s Section
Last month I told you how Medicare authorities foolishly allow Social Security Numbers to be used on your Medicare ID cards. Congress has been trying to fix this Medicare card problem for well over 10 years and finally did something about it with “The Medicare and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015”, signed into law by President Obama. The Department of Health and Human Services was directed to no longer issue Medicare cards that display, code or embed your Social Security Number. But here’s the Catch: due to the massive amount of work involved for Medicare to assign everyone a new, random number, correct its database and print and send out new cards, they were given until 2019 to issue modernized cards to new Medicare recipients and until 2023 to issue new cards to existing Medicare recipients! So until new cards are issued, how do you protect yourself?
Make a color photocopy of your Medicare card and cut it down to wallet size.
Remove (cut out or blackout) the last 4 digits of your Social Security Number. (Maybe you should just remove the whole number from your Medicare card!
Place the “fixed” Medicare card in your wallet and keep the original in a safe place where you can access it if needed. (Health care can’t be refused merely because you don’t have your original card, though it may be required upon checkout).
What else is in your wallet? Don’t keep your Social Security card in your wallet! Don’t keep blank checks or bank deposit slips in your wallet either! Worst yet, don’t keep a “cheat sheet” containing your bank and credit card passwords or PINs, or passwords for online banking or other sensitive web portals!
Forget what that old American Express commercial used to say. When it comes to your Medicare card (and these other items),”do leave home without it”!
Thanks for Reading!!
