Seventh wave of new Medicare cards hits the mail

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is wrapping up its process of mailing new identification cards to Medicare recipients. Last month, it began mailing cards to recipients living in the Wave 7 states and territories of Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio, Puerto Rico, Tennessee, and the Virgin Islands.

CMS has finished mailing cards to people with Medicare who live in states or terriroties within Waves 1 through 6. If someone with Medicare who lives in one of these locations says he or she did not get a card, you should instruct the patient to:

•    Sign into MyMedicare.gov to see if CMS mailed his or her card. If so, the patient can print an official card. He or she will need to create an account if he or she does not already have one. 
•    Call 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227) where CMS can verify the patient's identity, check his or her address, and help the recipient get a new card. 

You can also print out and give the patient a copy of “Still Waiting for Your New Card?”, or you can order copies to hand out. 

Please remind your Medicare patients that when they get their new Medicare cards, they should destroy the old red, white, and blue Medicare cards but not their Social Security, Medicare Advantage plan, or drug plan cards. If they belong to a Medicare Advantage plan or a Medicare drug plan (Part D), they should continue to use those cards when they get health care services or fill a prescription.

People with Medicare should protect their new number to prevent medical identity theft and health care fraud, especially during Medicare Open Enrollment. CMS has a Guard Your Medicare Card video, which reminds people with Medicare to beware of scams. There are also new fraud prevention products on CMS’s new Medicare card Outreach & Education webpage, which you can share with people with Medicare.

Please continue to direct people with Medicare to Medicare.gov/NewCard for information about the mailings and to sign up to get emails about the status of card mailings in their state. 

As a reminder, to ensure that people with Medicare continue to get care, you can use either the former Social Security number-based Health Insurance Claim Number or the new alpha-numeric Medicare Beneficiary Identifier for all Medicare transactions through Dec. 31, 2019. 

– Kent Moore, Senior Strategist for Physician Payment with the American Academy of Family Physicians