Paper or Plastic? Medicare only offers paper cards

Paper or plastic, medicare card

We’ve all been asked the question of “paper or plastic” with grocery bags, but the same should NOT be true of your Medicare card.

Watch out for scammers calling pretending to be with Medicare and offering you a plastic Medicare card. Medicare will NOT call you, AND will NOT offer plastic cards. Medicare only provides them in paper. Scammers are just trying to steal your Medicare number and your identity.

If you receive such an offer, hang up and report it to our California Senior Medicare Patrol (SMP) at 1-855-613-7080. We are here to help you and others prevent Medicare fraud.

Karen Joy Fletcher

Our blogger Karen Joy Fletcher is CHA’s Communications Director. With a Masters in Public Health from UC Berkeley, she is the online “public face” of the organization, provides technical expertise, writing and research on Medicare and other health care issues. She is responsible for digital content creation, management of CHA’s editorial calendar, and managing all aspects of CHA’s social media presence. She loves being a “communicator” and enjoys networking and collaborating with the passionate people and agencies in the health advocacy field. See her current articles.