Medicare Cards Put Seniors at Risk of Identity Theft

While a great deal is being done by both academic institutions and private businesses to remove Social Security numbers from ID cards, apparently not everyone is moving quickly on this issue. And while the government passes laws to prevent identity theft and punish identity thieves, they also contribute to it by leaving Social Security numbers on ID cards.

Many seniors have expressed concern over the years about identity theft since their Social Security numbers being displayed on their Medicare cards. And they have every right to be concerned. Apparently, Congress has caught on to this concern as well because they are introducing legislation to have Social Security numbers removed from Medicare cards.

In the mean time, the best remedy is not to carry your Medicare card with you. Yes, they encourage you to carry it at all times, but they say the same for Social Security cards. But you shouldn't be carrying that around either. Unless you are seeing a new doctor or traveling outside the country, you shouldn't need your Medicare card. Make a copy of it and black out all but the last four digits of your Social Security number. That should serve as enough for identification purposes.