Medicare IDs at risk for identity theft

Medicare's member identification card is an identity theft risk for members who carry it because it prominently displays their Social Security numbers. So lawmakers are calling on the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to redesign the ID card without Social Security numbers, FierceHealthcare reported. Rep. Sam Johnson (R-Texas), said a bill, H.R. 1509, would direct the federal health secretary to remove Social Security numbers from the Medicare cards. "If CMS won't do what's right for America's Medicare beneficiaries, then Congress must act," he said. Likewise, the Government Accountability Office recommended in a new report that CMS remove the identifying numbers from Medicare cards in a way that best protects members from identity theft and minimizes burdens for providers. --Read the full article on FierceHealthcare