Americans who are enrolled in Medicare should be expecting a new arrival in their mailboxes very soon. The new 2018 Medicare cards are on their way. You will want to keep a close eye on your mailbox so that your card doesn’t end up in someone else’s hands. Instead of using your social security number, new Medicare cards have a special identifier. This new addition is called an MBI or Medicare Beneficiary Identifier.
Medical identity theft is a real problem in the United States. As reported by the Office of Civil Rights, last year 2 million Americans had their medical information breached. In 2016, 16.5 million people were affected. Obtaining an individual’s Social Security number is the key to criminals breaching protected medical information. With the addition of the new MBI number, instead of your Social Security number, you have an added layer of protection against medical identity theft.
The new MBI helps protect you, but you still have to keep your eyes open for scams. The Ponemon Institute conducted a survey of previous medical identity theft victims in order to gauge the amount of time and money that is required to recover. On average, it took over 200 hours and $13,500 to fully recover from medical identity theft.
If these people were members of ReclaimMyID prior to the event, ReclaimMyID would have put in the work to restore their standing with no money out of pocket. Don’t let this happen to you, protect your family for $49.99 a year with ReclaimMyID.
However, you still have to keep your eyes open to avoid medical identity theft. Medicare and their employees will never contact you asking for your medical or personal information. If you receive an e-mail or a call asking for this information, do not respond and do not open any attachments. You have to keep your information protected, so stay alert.
It is a step in the right direction now that new Medicare cards have a special identifier. You must still stay diligent in order to protect your information.
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