Lynn Jenkins: “I thank the gentleman from Texas for yielding, and would like to commend Chairman Johnson and Congressman Doggett for…”

“I thank the gentleman from Texas for yielding, and would like to commend Chairman Johnson and Congressman Doggett for their leadership on this legislation. Mr. Speaker, today there are nearly 50 million Medicare beneficiaries who are told to carry their Medicare cards with them at all times while simultaneously being told not to carry their Social Security card. They are told that carrying their Social Security card in their purse or wallet puts them at risk of identity theft, which is a problem that affects 1 million seniors yearly. The irony is that the Medicare cards all feature beneficiaries' Social Security numbers prominently. This means that our seniors are in a tight spot. They are at risk of identity theft simply by carrying their Medicare card with them. I support passage of this bill because it would ensure that a person's Social Security Number is no longer printed on their Medicare card. This bipartisan, commonsense measure will ensure that the 115,000 Medicare enrollees in my district will be safe from identity theft.”