Centers For Medicare And Medicaid To Issue New Cards

In a press release dated November 26^th, The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid, or CMS, have announced that, as a result of recent fraud takedowns, 220,000 Medicare beneficiaries’ will receive a new Medicare number and card in the mail. CMS took proactive steps to deactivate and reassign new Medicare numbers for affected beneficiaries as the result of recent enforcement actions.

Last year, CMS removed Social Security numbers from all Medicare cards and replaced them with a more secure Medicare number to protect Medicare beneficiaries. CMS has the ability to reassign beneficiaries’ new, secure Medicare numbers when fraud is detected.

CMS is checking all billing for services for what appears to be fraudulent use. If fraud is suspected, the Medicare card number is shut down and the beneficiary is issued a new Medicare number and mailed a new card. It appears that these numbers are only being used to bill Medicare for services that were not received.

CMS and Valley Program for Aging Services recommend that Medicare beneficiaries take the following actions:

• Open mail with the CMS logo on the envelope; it might contain a new Medicare card.
  · If a new Medicare card is received in the mail, call 1-800-MEDICARE (800-633-4627) and confirm that a new Medicare number has been issued.
  · Be sure to inform your health care providers of the new Medicare number.
  · Check your Explanation of Benefits statements to confirm that the services charged to your Medicare number were actually received by you. Report any suspicious billings to 1-800-MEDICARE.

As a reminder, Medicare doesn’t call beneficiaries. Be advised to NOT give your Medicare number to anyone calling you on the phone even if they state they are with Medicare or Social Security.