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Seniors should watch out for Medicare card scams in the new year

Scammers may claim you need a new card to keep your account from closing

Updated:

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By:
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Mark Huffman
Reporter

Mark Huffman has covered consumer issues since 2004, with a special focus on protecting and empowering older adults. A former news correspondent for the Associated Press Radio Network, Westwood One, and ConsumerAffairs, Mark brings decades of journalistic experience to RetirementLiving.com. He is passionate about giving consumers a voice and helping them make informed decisions. Mark has also created educational content, including Senior Scam Alert, a video resource designed to help seniors recognize and avoid fraud. He holds a B.A. from the University of Kentucky and lives with his family in Richmond, Virginia.
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Key Insights

  • New York seniors are being warned about a resurgence of Medicare card scams, in which fraudsters pose as Medicare representatives and demand personal information.
  • The alert comes from the New York StateWide Senior Action Council, which named “Medicare Card Scams” its Fraud of the Month for December.
  • Officials stress that Medicare does not issue plastic cards or call beneficiaries to verify information, and urge seniors to hang up on such calls immediately.

Senior advocates are sounding a holiday warning. Medicare card scams usually spike at the beginning of the year.

One such warning comes from the New York StateWide Senior Action Council (StateWide), which has highlighted the scam as part of its “Medicare Fraud of the Month” initiative, a program launched in 2022 to spotlight common scams targeting seniors. 

The effort is carried out through the Senior Medicare Patrol (SMP), a federally funded program that helps older adults detect, prevent, and report health care fraud, errors, and abuse. 

According to StateWide Executive Director Maria Alvarez, scammers are again calling Medicare beneficiaries with false claims that new plastic or metal Medicare cards are being issued, or that seniors must verify their Medicare number to avoid losing coverage.

“These calls are 100% fake,” Alvarez said. “Medicare is not sending out new plastic cards, and it will never call to ask for your Medicare number. If you get one of these calls, hang up immediately.”

StateWide and the Senior Medicare Patrol emphasize several key facts seniors should remember: Medicare cards do not expire and are only reissued if a beneficiary requests a replacement. 

Medicare issues standard paper cards only, and neither Medicare nor a doctor’s office will call unexpectedly to request personal or medical information. Scammers often use caller ID spoofing to make it appear that the call is coming from Medicare or a trusted health care provider.

Fraudsters frequently claim that a new card is required for the New Year, a tactic that reappears annually. Experts advise seniors to treat their Medicare and Social Security numbers like credit card numbers—keeping them private and never sharing them with unsolicited callers.

StateWide also encourages Medicare recipients to regularly review their Medicare Summary Notices and Explanation of Benefits for unfamiliar charges, which can be an early sign of fraud or billing errors.

Medicare fraud is estimated to cost taxpayers more than $60 billion nationwide each year. Through its Fraud of the Month program, StateWide aims to raise awareness and help protect New York’s more than 3.6 million senior citizens from becoming victims of costly and stressful scams.