The New Medicare Card

Your New Medicare Card
By Mary Jo Heins, Independent Licensed Medicare Insurance Agent
For those of you waiting with bated breath for your New Medicare Card, just don’t hold your breath :-). Colorado is in the 6th “wave” and has not yet been given specific dates for mailing (there are 7 waves total, so we are among the last in the April 2018 to April 2019 time frame). Also, if you have a Medicare Advantage plan, you may not get a new Medicare card since you give your Medicare Advantage card to doctors and pharmacies.
Here is a link to more detail: New Medicare Card Rollout
Now we’re hearing of scams associated with this changeover to the new medicare card.
The scam: AARP reports scammers are calling up Medicare recipients and pretending to be representatives from the government’s healthcare program. The caller tells the victim that they need personal identifiers – including Social Security numbers and bank account information – to facilitate the switch to a new card.
The truth: Representatives of Medicare do not call consumers. The Coalition Against Insurance Fraud says seniors should just hang up on any caller claiming to be from Medicare. In actuality, they’re crooks trying to scam you.
Here is a link to see the rollout progression and to sign up for an email notification of when your card is being mailed: New Card Email Notice
Mary Jo Heins has a passion for helping people get great healthcare.  She is an Independent Licensed Medicare Insurance Agent, Past President of the Colorado Medical Group Management Association and a Fellow in the American College of Medical Practice Executives. Mary Jo teaches “My Medicare Match: Drilling Down to Evaluate Your Options”  The next session is Saturday, July 21, 2018.
Her website is www.medicareinsurancedenver.com