Elderly Parents, Relatives, Friends - Medicare Fraud Alert

Just a head's up that new Medicare cards are being mailed out across the country, and the fraud is off the charts. The new cards will no longer include Social Security Numbers

Protect your loved ones by making sure they know  - Medicare will NEVER call and ask for personal information before sending new cards!

Elderly people are being called with all sorts of spurious reasons that people should give the caller their Social Security number and birthday. 

Fraudsters are using the nationwide notice of the new cards going out to "confirm ID's", charge for the new cards or temporary cards, etc... The scams are numerous.

The new cards will be mailed April 2018 to April 2019. You don’t have to do a thing to get a new card.

Never share your Medicare Number or other personal information if someone calls and asks for it!

This is from Medicare.

3 things to know
1.    People who are enrolling in Medicare for the first time will be among the first in the country to receive the new cards.
2.    Your new card will automatically come to you. You don't need to do anything as long as your address is up to date. If you need to update your address, visit your My Social Security account.
3.    Once you get your new Medicare card, destroy your old Medicare card and start using your new card right away.

Watch out for scams
Medicare will never call you uninvited and ask you to give us 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).

New Medicare Card Mailing Strategy
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is required to remove Social Security Numbers (SSNs) from all Medicare cards by April 2019. A new, unique Medicare Number is replacing the SSN-based Health Insurance Claim Number (HICN) on each new Medicare card. Starting April 2018, CMS is mailing new Medicare cards to all people with Medicare on a flow basis, based on geographic location and other factors.
These mailings will follow the sequence outlined below. Additional details on timing will be available as the mailings progress. Starting in April 2018, people with Medicare can get information about the mailings and sign up for emails about the status of card mailings in their area on Medicare.gov/NewCard.

New Medicare Card Mailing Waves

Newly Eligible People with Medicare    All -    Nationwide    April 2018 -    ongoing
1    Delaware, District of Columbia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia    Beginning May 2018
2    Alaska, American Samoa, California, Guam, Hawaii, Northern Mariana Islands, Oregon    Beginning May 2018
3    Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Wisconsin    After June 2018
4    Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont    After June 2018
5    Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina    After June 2018
6    Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, Utah, Washington, Wyoming    After June 2018
7    Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio, Puerto Rico, Tennessee, Virgin Islands    After June 2018

This has been a public service announcement. Now back to regular programming.