Senior citizens under Medicare services will receive a new card in the mail in the upcoming months.

Public Affairs Specialist and Media at Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Tony Salters said that the new cards will now contain a unique and random generated alpha-numeric identifier. Up until this year, a person’s social security number was on the card.

“The initiative to remove social security numbers from Medicare and Medicaid cards began several years ago and was finalized with the passage of the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015,” Salters said.

Salters said removing social security numbers from the card protects the personal identity of the person in case their card is lost or stolen.

Director of Patient Financial Services for Forrest General Hospital Andy Johnson said Medicare will mail the new cards starting April of this year and continue to do so until April of 2019.

Citizens who signed up for Medicare for the first time this year will be one of the first to receive the new card, regardless of their place of residence. The remaining enrollees across the country will receive their new card as part of Medicare’s mailing strategy schedule.

Johnson said citizens in the state of Mississippi should expect Medicare to mail their new card sometime after June.

“Now is the time to make sure the Social Security Administration has your correct residence address on file,” Johnson said.

Citizens can update or verify their address of residence with the Social Security Administration by visiting https://www.ssa.gov/myaccount or by calling 1(800) 772-1213.

Johnson suggests citizens not throw out their old card after receiving the new one. Instead, take both cards next time they visit a medical facility and the staff will tell them what to do.

Citizens with a Medicare Replacement Policy or Disadvantage plan should not throw away their card, as Medicare is not required to send a new one for them, Johnson said.

For questions regarding the mailing status of the new Medicare card, contact the Medicare customer service office by calling 1(800) 633-4227. The Forrest General Engagement Center, at (601) 288-4445 or the Forrest General Financial Services office at (601) 288-2032, can answer further questions.