Medicare users at higher risk of identity theft
We’ve all been told not to carry our Social Security cards with us. We all know that we’re supposed to keep our Social Security cards locked up at home somewhere. If the card is lost or stolen, identity theft and credit fraud become huge risks, and could result in the loss of thousands of dollars, erroneous arrest warrants, medical ID theft, and a plummeting credit score.
So why is it that more than 40 million people covered by Medicare are forced to carry their SSN? It’s simple. Medicare prints their beneficiaries’ SSN directly on the card.
Medicare officials claim that issuing new cards to the 40 million beneficiaries would be “a huge undertaking” that would cost $500 million to update, take three years to plan, and another eight years to implement.
They also worry that issuing new cards might “startle or alarm” current beneficiaries. As if learning you’re months behind in mortgage payments on a house you didn’t know about wouldn’t be startling. Receiving a $40,000 medical bill for the amputation of your left foot would probably be alarming. And having a sheriff’s deputy come to the door with an arrest warrant for a crime they didn’t commit would probably be both startling and alarming. All of these things have happened to real people.
In a recent survey conducted by the Identity Theft Resource Center, 62% of identity theft crimes resulted in arrest warrants issued in the victims’ names. When the ID theft included the opening of new credit accounts in the victims’ name, the survey respondents reported average financial losses of $1,865.27, and an average of 157.87 hours to deal with the crime.
Until Medicare can be forced to stop using SSN on beneficiaries’ cards, there are some steps you can take to protect yourself as a Medicare recipient.
Make a photocopy of your card, and then use a marker to blacken out the last four digits of your SSN on the front and back sides. Carry the copy in your wallet, and lock up the original in a home safe. If you need to show your card in the doctor’s office, you can show them the copy and tell them the last four digits. If you ever need emergency medical care, the photocopy will give them enough information to work with.
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