With the announcement that Medicare are rolling out new cards, brazen crooks have seen this as a new opportunity to dupe unsuspecting recipients.

Crooks have been targeting the elderly and those with disabilities by demanding a fee in exchange for the new Medicare card.

The new Medicare card is free of charge, and Medicare will never call you uninvited.

Scam artists might also ask for your current Medicare number, and may attempt to manipulate you by threatening to cancel your health benefits if you don’t share your personal information.

In some cases the conmen (and conwomen) call relentlessly in a bid to wear you down, so it’s important to remain vigilant and nip it in the bud as soon as a red flag appears.

They may even have a snippet of information to appear legitimate; such as a name, address, or even Social Security number; but do not pay any heed to these criminals.

The only instances in which Medicare will call you is you’ve called 1–800-MEDICARE and left a message asking to be called back, or if you’re already part of a Medicare health or drug plan.

Although the new Medicare cards will not longer contain your SSN-based Health Insurance Claim Number (HICN), you should still guard your new Medicare Beneficiary Identifier (MBI) as closely as you would your SSN.

Upon joining a Medicare plan, they will inform you of their privacy practices. To learn more about how they use your information, follow this link: https://www.medicare.gov/forms-help-and-resources/privacy-practices/privacy.html

If you get any calls from someone purporting to represent Medicare, call them at 1–800-MEDICARE (1–800–633–4227) so as they can warn others.

If you have any questions about Medicare and if you’d like to learn how to maximize your entitlements give one of our friendly Medicare experts a call on 646–745–9122 for a free consultation.

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Ginalisa Monterroso

Written by

CEO and founder of Medicare & Medicaid Advisory Group.

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