Coming Soon: A new Medicare card that will not display a cardholder’s Social Security number (SSN).

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently announced it is preparing to issue Medicare cards that will use new unique numbers in place of cardholder SSNs. CMS said it would begin mailing new cards to beneficiaries in April 2018.

“We’re taking this step to protect our seniors from fraudulent use of Social Security numbers, which can lead to identity theft and illegal use of Medicare benefits,” said CMS Administrator Seema Verma. “We want to be sure that Medicare beneficiaries and healthcare providers know about these changes well in advance and have the information they need to make a seamless transition.”