April 2002 - Finance - Medicare-Card Carriers At Risk for Personal ID Theft By Robert K. Heady

April 2002

Medicare-Card Carriers
At Risk for Personal ID Theft
By Robert K. Heady

All the hoopla about protecting your personal privacy isn’t going to help folk on Medicare, according to experts. The medical claim number appearing on the Medicare cards of 40 million Americans is also their Social Security number, which they must present when they visit a doctor, clinic or hospital. That’s the way it’s been, and there’s no protection in sight. Only California, with a new law that took effect Jan. 1, has begun phasing out the use of Social Security numbers on health-plan cards.

Ironically, Medicare has been called a child of the Social Security Administration, having been spawned by the SSA in 1965. The SSA keeps a master record of all people eligible for Medicare. Under the Privacy Act of 1974, any doctor or health organization that sells or shares a person’s claim number with another party is in violation of federal law.
Yet when you ask Social Security officials how the person on Medicare is supposed to guard against ID theft when he’s forced to flash his card before every Tom, Joe and Jane in the medical field, the officials mostly shrug and say, “The card is strictly for your own use. You should protect it in the same way as your credit card.”

Meanwhile, identity theft has become America’s fastest-growing white-collar crime. Last year, there were about 750,000 cases of ID theft, with stolen Social Security numbers leading the way.

You don’t want some bad dude grabbing your Social Security number (SSN), because with that and your date of birth, he can rip you off big time: Getting new credit cards sent to his address, borrowing money, buying cars and houses, you name it.

Your Social Security card probably reads at the bottom, “Not to be used for identification,” but that’s nonsense. By law, you’re only required to give out your SSN for tax-related uses such as to the IRS, to banks and to your employer. Companies and private businesses, however, ask for your SSN to check your credit or to use it as an ID number. You don’t have to give it to them, but then, they don’t have to provide you with their services.
The answer, according to Robert Ellis Smith, publisher of the Privacy Journal and an expert in his field, is, “Don’t say, ‘I refuse’ ... Say, ‘Because I’m concerned about my privacy.’” Most clerks will identify with that. Be persistent. When you fill out an application, write “Not to be disclosed” next to your SSN.

Mark Hinkle, spokesman for the Social Security Administration, offers these further tips:

Remember, there’s no law preventing businesses from requesting your Social Security number. But if you give it out, tell them—preferably in writing—that they must not disclose, sell or share it with others. Get a copy of your credit report at least once a year to check it for suspicious activity.

If you ever become an ID theft victim, here’s who to contact: Federal Trade Commission at (877) IDTHEFT; Social Security Administration at (800) 269-0271; and the fraud units at the three credit agencies—Equifax at (800) 525-6285; Experian at (888) 397-3742 (option No. 5); and TransUnion at (800) 680-7289.