At the March 30, 2011 Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and other Agencies held a hearing on the FY 2012 Health and Human Services (HHS) Budget, Senator Kirk (R- IL) questioned HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius about the outdated Medicare Card issued to America’s seniors.  In a system that is riddled with fraud, waste and abuse, Sen. Kirk suggested that knowing who is receiving services and who is providing them could significantly help reduce the amount of fraud in Medicare - currently estimated b y the Department of Justice to be $60 billion per year. 

Senator Kirk displayed the current Medicare card - a card that has virtually no security features and clearly displays the individual’s Social Security number allowing the card to be easily duplicated, fostering fraud within the Medicare system and identity theft among seniors. Senator Kirk then displayed the Department of Defense (DOD) Common Access Card, or the CAC card. Unlike the Medicare Card, the CAC card incorporates multiple security features including the owner’s picture, signature, and an embedded micro- processor chip.  The difference in security features on each of these cards result in dramatic differences in the level of security and information protection. DOD’s CAC card has never been counterfeited, while the Medicare Card is an easy target. .

Senator Kirk is leading the effort to protect our seniors from identity theft and reduce fraud in the Medicare system by asking HHS to look at upgrading the Medicare card to use the same underlying technology and standards as the CAC card. This inexpensive proposal would eliminate a significant amount of fraud in the Medicare system and save taxpayers billions of dollars in the first full year of deployment. .

Senator Kirk is working with Senators Harkin (D- IA) and Shelby (R- AL) to make this simple idea a reality. The stakes are too high to continue to do nothing. Today America’s seniors are at put at risk of identity theft as a result of the Medicare cards they are issued and advised to carry.  Every day that goes by where beneficiaries and providers are not verified and authenticated billions of taxpayers’ dollars are lost to fraud in the Medicare system.  Senator Kirk is on the right track, offering a common sense solution, to verify who is eligible for benefits, and not only who is able to provide them but, that those services where actually rendered.

Click here to watch Senator Kirk’s question of Secretary Sebelius.

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