Help, my Medicare Number was changed, what do I do?

[Charlie_Boy]

Got a letter and new card from Dept of Health and Human Services which stated in bold type:

You now have a new Medicare Number and your previous Medicare Number is no longer valid. Your new Medicare card is inside.

It went on to say I need to start using my new card on December 29, 2023. On that date I should destroy my old card and inform my providers I have a new number. It explained that in November they had an incident with one of their contractors that "may have affected your Medicare Number" and that they notified me of it. I don't recall receiving any notice and, if I did, I might have blown it off.

Has anyone else been through this? I have some ideas of what to do, not sure when, and thought I would ask here and maybe get other ideas. December 29th is a Friday and a day before the long New Year's Weekend. Of course I need to inform my providers. My main health provider may be easy and I suspect I should tell them now rather than wait until January 2nd in case I need any emergency care. I did call them about it, they said they never experieced that, and I can go into my account on line to change the number. Also, I can get phone numbers off my Medicare statements of other providers. One issue may be that on those statements are providers who have billed Medicare for service under another provider.

What about Part B providers? I have secondary insurance under Tricare for Life and I guess I should notify them too that my Medicare Number is changing. An odd thing, maybe or maybe not, is that my wife is under Medicate too but didn't get any replacement card
-Charlie-

 

[pacergal]

I would not do anything until you contact Medicare directly via phone to make sure it is valid, even if the paperwork looks correct.
You never know how clever thieves can be.

 

[Chuckanut]

I would not do anything until you contact Medicare directly via phone to make sure it is valid, even if the paperwork looks correct.
You never know how clever thieves can be.

Excellent advice. It could be they caught some other person using your Medicare number to get free medical care. Or some doctor padding his profits by billing Medicare for patients he doesn’t have. Or some crooks are in the process of hijacking your Medicare account.

Call Medicare ASAP and get the real information from them.

 

[gauss]

@Charlie_Boy, Was your old Medicare number the same as your Social Security number?

If so, then this change is common. CMS has been taking the Social Security numbers of traditional Medicare cards for some years now and issuing new ones with more generic numbers.

-gauss

 

[MichaelB]

@Charlie_Boy, Was your old Medicare number the same as your Social Security number?

If so, then this change is common. CMS has been taking the Social Security numbers of traditional Medicare cards for some years now and issuing new ones with more generic numbers.

-gauss

+1, this is the first thing to check.

I would not do anything until you contact Medicare directly via phone to make sure it is valid, even if the paperwork looks correct.
You never know how clever thieves can be.

If the old Medicare number was not the SS number, this suggestion by pacergal is the appropriate next step.

 

[Sarah S]

Definitely check but is it this letter? https://www.cms.gov/newsroom/press-...duals-potentially-impacted-moveit-data-breach

 

[RetMD21]

I think this happens a lot. They are pretty free about changing numbers for any suspected data compromises. You can do whatever you want but I would just show them the new card next time you go in. It won't be the first time your doctor's office has seen this. I think Tricare will know. In the highly unlikely event that some scammer sent you a Medicare card in the mail your doctor's office will figure that out

 

[Charlie_Boy]

Thanks for your replies. Sarah S, it was not that letter but a short official one informing me of the change and a new card with a new number. And gauss, my old card did not use my Social Security number as my Medicare number. I logged onto the official site and it had my new number as my Medicare number.

 

[SecondCor521]

I received, as POA, a similar letter for my Dad, who is on a Medicare Advantage plan with Blue Cross. The letter was from Blue Cross with a new card and a new number.

Like the OP, his previous number was not his SS number.

Slightly different, my Dad's new number takes effect 1/1/2024. The letter said they'll process claims under both numbers for an unspecified transition period, but that we should let his providers know.

My Dad only has five or six main providers, so I was just going to give myself an errand of updating those five or six folks with the new info.