Important New Medicare Card Mailing Update — Wave 7 Begins, Wave 5 Ends

CMS has started mailing new Medicare cards to people with Medicare who live in Wave 7 states and territories including: Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio, Puerto Rico, Tennessee, and the Virgin Islands.

We are finished mailing cards to people with Medicare who live in states within Waves 1 through 4 and now Wave 5. If someone with Medicare who lives in one of these states says they did not get a card, you should instruct them to:

• Sign into MyMedicare.gov to see if we mailed their card. If so, they can print an official card. They will need to create an account if they do not already have one. 
• Call 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227) where we can verify their identity, check their address, and help them get their new card. 

You can also print out and give them a copy of Still Waiting for Your New Card?, or you can order copies to hand out. 

To ensure that people with Medicare continue to get care, you can use either the former Social Security number-based Health Insurance Claim Number (HICN) or the new alpha-numeric Medicare Beneficiary Identifier (MBI) for all Medicare transactions through December 31, 2019. 

People with Medicare should continue to protect their new number to prevent medical identity theft and health care fraud, especially during Medicare Open Enrollment. View and share our new Guard your Medicare cardvideo, which reminds people with Medicare to beware of scams. There are also new fraud prevention products on our new Medicare card Outreach & Education webpage for you to share with people with Medicare:

• Drop-in article (also in Spanish) and Public Service Announcement script reminding people to be wary of scams
• Flyer (also in Spanish) with fraud prevention tips during Open Enrollment

Continue to direct people with Medicare to Medicare.gov/NewCard for information about the mailings and to sign up to get emails about the status of card mailings in their state.