Medicare to Issue New ID Cards to Insureds

Medicare is helping its insureds work towards better identity security by issuing new Medicare cards to all beneficiaries beginning this month.

As prior cards included social security numbers, which are attractive to identity thieves, new numbers are unique, randomly assigned, 11-character numbers called a Medicare Beneficiary Identifier.  

This is a nation-wide re-issue, so new cards should begin going out via mail to New Hampshire insureds beginning early summer.  If you are insured with Medicare and do not receive a card, or misplace the new card, contact Social Security at 800-722-1213 or visit www.ssa.gov.

Medicare clients do NOT need to notify their carriers of their new Medicare ID number as this information will be sent directly from Medicare to the insurance company.

If you are newly insured with Medicare as of April 2018, your card should already have the randomly assigned number and not your social security number. 

As Medicare ID numbers are no longer able to be predicted, it is important for insureds to apply for Medicare when first eligible.  This will help with delays in processing of Medicare Supplement, MAPD and PDP plan applications.

Once you have your new card, it is strongly advised that you destroy your old card, so it does not end up in the wrong hands.