Frank Pallone: “I thank my colleague from Texas. Mr. Speaker, I, like many of my colleagues, am concerned with the problem of identity…”

“I thank my colleague from Texas. Mr. Speaker, I, like many of my colleagues, am concerned with the problem of identity theft--particularly identity theft from elderly individuals, who can be viewed as easy victims by unscrupulous criminals. I think we all agree that a commonsense step to prevent identity theft and further protect beneficiaries is to remove beneficiary Social Security numbers from their Medicare cards, but it's important to point out that this is not as easy as it would seem at first glance. Medicare has dozens of claims processing systems, each that will need to be modified to accept a new beneficiary number. Providers, too, will have to ensure their billing systems can accommodate the new numbers. We will need an extensive education campaign to ensure that a new numbering system or the issuance of new cards doesn't simply present a golden opportunity for unscrupulous individuals to find a new way to rip off seniors. Now, I certainly support the policy goal of H.R. 1509, the Medicare Identity Theft Prevention Act of 2012. This bill provides approximately $300 million to the Secretary of HHS to move forward on removing Social Security numbers from ID cards, yet we do not know whether that amount is sufficient. I'm concerned that if we fail to provide sufficient funding for this task, we may wind up with a programmatic mess, confusion, or even worse.…”