May 30, 2008 The Honorable Sherrod Brown United States…

    May 30, 2008


    The Honorable Sherrod Brown
    United States Senate
    Washington, D.C. 20510

    Dear Senator Brown,

    Consumers Union, the non-profit publisher of Consumer Reports,® is pleased to offer our strong
    support for S.2908, the Medicare Card Security Act of 2008. By ensuring that Social Security
    Numbers are not displayed on newly issued Medicare cards, your legislation is a strong first step in
    protecting America's seniors from identity theft.

    Social Security account numbers provide the key to consumers' financial identities. These numbers
    are commonly used by businesses to both identify a person and authenticate the identity of
    individuals (determine that the customer is the person he or she claims to be). The widespread
    reliance on the SSN for these purposes has made it a valuable target for identity thieves. According
    to the Government Accountability Office, "SSNs are a key piece of information used to create false
    identities for financial misuse or to assume another individual's identity."

    Displaying or embedding Medicare recipients' SSNs on their Medicare card increases beneficiaries'
    ID theft risk in several ways. First, most Medicare recipients carry their Medicare card with them.
    Our 2007 nationally representative consumer survey found that 85 percent of Americans age 65
    and older reported carrying their Medicare cards in their wallet or purse. When the SSN is
    displayed on that card, such seniors are particularly vulnerable to ID theft if their wallets or purses
    are stolen. Second, every time the beneficiary hands their card over to health care personnel, they
    give that person the key to their financial identity, increasing their risk of ID theft.

    Other federal agencies and many private health insurers have moved away from using the SSN as
    the identifying number on the card; so too should the Department of Health and Human Services.
    The Federal Thrift Savings Plan, for example, recently transitioned away from the SSN as the
    account number and assigned participants new, randomly generated account numbers in their place.
    Your legislation ensures that the Department undertakes the important and long overdue step of
    eliminating display of the SSN on new Medicare cards.

    Thank you for your leadership on this important issue. We look forward to working with you to
    ensure S.2908 becomes law.

    Sincerely,


    Gail Hillebrand
    Senior Attorney
Consumers Union
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