HELENA – Montana Attorney General Tim Fox joined with Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Regional Administrator Jeff Hinson and representatives of senior organizations Monday to announce the mailing of new Medicare cards to Montana residents.
Social Security numbers have been removed from the cards and replaced with random numbers to prevent identity theft, according to a press release from the Montana Department of Justice.
Speaking at a Helena press conference, Fox said: “It’s important for all of us to be diligent in protecting our Social Security numbers. When they get into the wrong hands, they can be used to open new credit cards, bank accounts, and mortgages. Thieves can even seek medical care with stolen Social Security numbers. Thanks to the folks at CMS, these new cards will deter scammers from using Medicare benefits illegally, while protecting our senior citizens and our tax dollars.”
Nearly 223,000 of the new cards have started to arrive in mailboxes across Montana. Jeff Hinson, CMS Regional VIII Administrator, said: “We’re excited to be mailing new Medicare cards to our beneficiaries in Montana, which will help protect our beneficiaries from identity theft and the Medicare program from fraud.”
Other speakers at the press conference included Renee Labrie-Shanks from Montana’s Senior Medicare Patrol, and Tim Summers, state director of Montana AARP.
For more information on the new Medicare cards, visit https://www.cms.gov/medicare/new-medicare-card/nmc-home.html or call 1-800-633-4227.
By David Sherman – MTN News
