Tell Your Clients About New Medicare Cards
Over two and a half million senior citizens and Medicare eligibles are victims of identity theft each year. Lost Medicare cards are a good way for criminals to steal information, but new Medicare cards will soon provide greater safety, security, and privacy. This may encourage your clients even further to buy, as many beneficiaries have been concerned with the card in the past.
Currently, a lost Medicare card means that a piece of plastic with the client’s name and social security number is floating around. Anyone could find and steal a beneficiary’s identity. By April of 2019, new Medicare cards will have randomly assigned Medicare beneficiary numbers instead of social security numbers printed on them. These Medicare Beneficiary Identifier (MBI) numbers can cause less damage than a SSN if stolen.
If your clients are still concerned for their security with Medicare, remind them of these tips from the Federal Trade Commission:
Medicare Safety Tips
- A Medicare employee will never call and ask for your social security number or banking information. If someone does call you asking for that information, it may be a scam.
- If someone asks you to pay for a Medicare card, it is a scam. Medicare cards are free.
- You will automatically receive new Medicare cards in the mail when they become available. If someone tells you that your benefits will be revoked if you do not give information or money, it may be a scam.
Make sure that when clients call you with questions or when you meet with new clients for the first time, you tell them that they will automatically receive a new Medicare card and anyone who tries to sell them a different one is a scammer. Additionally, make sure to inform clients that their benefits will not change just because their card is changing. This may cause some confusion.
If a client loses either an old card or a new one, they should immediately contact social security. They should have a new card within 30 days. The same goes for changing a name or contact information.
Keep your clients informed and satisfied. Check back with our blog for Medicare updates, sales advice, and more.
