Social Security Officials Call For Social Security Numbers To Be Removed From Me

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Social Security Officials Call For Social Security Numbers To Be

Removed From Medicare ID Cards Citing Identity Theft Risk

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/112480.php

Social Security Administration officials have requested that CMS take

immediate action to issue beneficiaries new membership cards that do

not include their Social Security numbers to address concerns

regarding identity theft, the New York Times reports.

Medical identity theft is the fastest-growing form of identity theft,

according to Byron Hollis, director of the antifraud department at

the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. Most private insurers

have removed Social Security numbers from their membership cards

because many states forbid the inclusion of such information, the

Times reports. SSA cannot prohibit CMS from including Social Security

numbers on Medicare cards, but Congress could, according to the

Times.

Clay , deputy director of the White House Office of Management

and Budget, in a May 2007 memo to the heads of federal departments

and agencies, wrote that CMS should develop plans to " eliminate the

unnecessary collection and use of Social Security numbers within 18

months. " However, CMS Chief Operating Officer Charlene Frizzera said

issuing new cards would be a " huge undertaking " and would require

three years to plan the change and eight more years to completely

reissue cards. She said that beneficiaries would be alarmed if the

government began issuing new cards or changing individual

identification numbers. " We don't want to scare them, " she said.

Medicare officials estimate that issuing new identification numbers

would require $500 million in computer changes. According to the

Times, providers use the Social Security numbers to file claims with

Medicare, which pays one billion claims annually.

In the report, SSA Inspector General O'Carroll

said, " Displaying such information on Medicare cards unnecessarily

places millions of individuals at risk for identity theft. " He

added, " We do not believe a federal agency should place more value on

convenience than the security of its beneficiaries' personal

information. "

According to the Times, other federal agencies have begun to take

steps to remove Social Security numbers from identification cards,

including the Department of Veterans Affairs, which has begun issuing

new cards to members that " generally " do not include their Social

Security numbers (Pear, New York Times, 6/22).

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