On April 1, 2018, Medicare started to mail new Medicare cards to beneficiaries. The new Medicare cards will remove the Social Security number from the cards. The gender and signature line will also be removed. Medicare is doing this to protect beneficiaries from fraud. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has issued a flyer, “10 Things to Know About Your New Medicare Card,” which has been reprinted below this article.

A couple of words of advice: The Medicare cards will be mailed in phases. In New Jersey, the cards will not be mailed until after June 1, 2018. Point number 6 on the flyer says you should “Keep your new card with you.” We at the Senior Medicare Patrol of New Jersey, however, suggest that you leave your Medicare card at home and only take it with you when you go see your doctor or a lab, or go to the hospital.

A Medicare beneficiary will now have two numbers to protect: a Social Security number for one’s Social Security benefits and a new Medicare number for Medicare benefits, to be known as a Medicare Beneficiary Identifier (MBI). It will now be a randomly generated 11-character MBI that looks something like: 1EG4-TE5-MK72. Only your Medicare number is changing. Not your Medicare benefits. If you have a Medicare Advantage plan or have a Medicare Part D prescription drug plan or are on Medicaid, you will continue to use those cards to receive your medical or drug benefits.

You do not have to do anything to get the new card. It will be automatically sent to you. If your neighbor gets a card before you, don’t worry. It will be coming. Medicare will complete the mailing by April, 2019.

Since there may be problems with the mailing of 58 million new cards, there will be a transition period, through December of 2019. During this period, Medicare will accept the new Medicare Beneficiary Identifier or the old Medicare number for your provider to submit claims. We are encouraging all beneficiaries to use the new card as soon as they receive it. Any questions, call the Senior Medicare Patrol of New Jersey at 732-777-1940.

By Charles Clarkson

Charles Clarkson is the project director, Senior Medicare Patrol of New Jersey.