The #1 reason to stop carrying your Medicare card

Your Social Security card is one of the five things that you shouldn’t keep in your wallet or purse, but what about your Medicare card? Your number is on there as well!

To reduce the risk of identity theft if the card is stolen, one expert is recommending that you leave it at home. 

Read more: How to protect your Social Security number after a hack

Are you carrying your Medicare card around? Read this!

Adam Levin, author of “SWIPED: How to Protect Yourself in a World Full of Scammers, Phishers, and Identity Thieves,” says you should avoid carrying your Medicare card at all costs.

Instead, here’s what Levin suggests that you do:

1. Make a copy of your Medicare card.
2. Remove or cut out most of the numbers.
3. Write your emergency contact’s phone number on the back.

You’ll need to carry your original Medicare card the first time that you visit a health care provider, according to AARP. But at all other times, your photocopy will probably do just fine.

Levin told us that it’s important to make sure that the emergency contact listed on the back of your card has your Social Security number in case something unexpected comes up.

By the way, a new Medicare card is on the way – without your SSN on it.

Don’t wait by the mailbox, though. It’s going to be a few years before new beneficiaries receive the updated cards and even longer for existing cardholders. 

Read more: Don’t give your Social Security number at these places!