[F]ederal officials are issuing new Medicare cards to more than 141,000 Vermonters in an effort to better prevent fraud.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services began mailing the cards this week to Vermont recipients as part of an incremental rollout nationwide.
The key change is that the new cards no longer feature Social Security numbers. Instead, recipients are getting a “unique, randomly-assigned” Medicare identification number.
“This change not only protects Medicare patients from fraud but also safeguards taxpayer dollars by making it harder for criminals to use Social Security numbers to falsely bill Medicare for care services and benefits that were never performed,” Ray Hurd, a regional CMS administrator, said in a statement accompanying an announcement of the new cards.
There are about 58.5 million people enrolled in Medicare nationwide, according to the most recent available CMS data. The program primarily is meant for those age 65 and older, but it also covers younger people with certain disabilities.
While exact numbers are hard to come by, officials have said the costs of Medicare fraud and “improper payment” reaches tens of billions of dollars each year. Some recent reports say improper Medicare payments totaled nearly $60 billion in 2016.
The federal government has invested in a variety of enforcement measures to crack down on fraud. Issuing new cards likely won’t have the same impact as enforcement and prosecution, but officials say it will help the cause.
The card switch was set in motion by the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act, which Congress passed in 2015. The wide-ranging law included a provision calling for the federal government “to ensure that a Social Security number is not displayed on an individual’s Medicare card.”
CMS started mailing replacement cards with new Medicare identification numbers earlier this year. According to a government website tracking the change, mailings are finished in nine states and in Washington, D.C.
Vermont is one of 19 states in the second phase of the rollout.
Officials are advising Medicare recipients to destroy their old cards as soon as they receive the new one. However, in an effort to ensure a “seamless transition,” the government also has built in a 21-month transition during which providers will be able to use either the old or new cards.
Though the card transition is designed to help prevent fraud, it could also be an opportunity for scams. CMS officials say Medicare won’t be contacting recipients asking for a Medicare number or other personal information, and say no one should ask a recipient to pay for a new card.
Once Vermonters receive their new cards, they should be safeguarded “like you would health insurance or credit cards,” officials said.
