Statements on Introduced Bills and Joint Resolutions

Floor Speech

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Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, today I join my colleague, Senator KIRSTEN GILLIBRAND, to introduce the Social Security Number Protection Act of 2013, a bill that would remove Social Security numbers from Medicare cards to address a leading cause of identity theft among our Nation's seniors.

It is estimated that 11.6 million Americans were victims of identity theft in 2011, up from 10.2 million in 2010. We know that the misuse of Social Security numbers is one of the primary drivers of this crime. In many of these cases, identity thieves obtain them from Medicare cards.

Today, over 49 million beneficiaries carry their Medicare cards with them in their purses and in their wallets. These cards display a Medicare identification number, which consists of their Social Security number with a one- or two-digit code at the end, leaving beneficiaries particularly vulnerable to identity theft should a card be lost, stolen, or left in plain sight.

With identity theft on the rise, we can't make it this easy for thieves. Unfortunately, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Service, CMS, has fallen behind many other public and private organizations in better protecting seniors from identity theft by continuing to display Social Security numbers on Medicare cards. The Department of Defense, the Veterans Administration, and private insurers have all figured out how to transition to individual identification cards that don't include Social Security numbers.

In 2005, I offered an amendment to the Fiscal Year 2006 Labor-HHS-Education appropriations bill to require CMS to remove Social Security numbers from Medicare cards. Although my amendment was adopted with a rollcall vote of 98 to 0, the final bill directed CMS to report to Congress on the steps necessary to remove the numbers. CMS provided that report in October 2006.

Six and a half years have passed since CMS first explored taking steps to remove Social Security numbers from Medicare cards. The Inspector General of the Social Security Administration took CMS to task in 2008 for its inaction and confirmed the risk that display of the numbers on Medicare cards poses to seniors. The Social Security inspector concluded that ``immediate action is needed to address this significant vulnerability.'' CMS has since issued another report, but it has failed to take action.

The Social Security Number Protection Act of 2013 establishes a reasonable timetable--3 years--for CMS to begin removing Social Security numbers from Medicare cards. It also gives CMS flexibility in determining the method by which it makes this change, enabling it to pursue an option that minimizes burdens while maximizing cost effectiveness. The bill also prohibits CMS from displaying Social Security numbers on all written and electronic communications to Medicare beneficiaries.

I urge my colleagues to cosponsor this important legislation and work with me to advance this long overdue change. CMS already requires that beneficiaries receiving benefits through Medicare Part C and Part D do not display individuals' Social Security numbers. Further, it has 6 years' worth of reports and cost data that it can use as tools to make these changes happen. We should extend this protection to all beneficiaries and help safeguard our Nation's seniors from becoming victims of identity theft in the future as quickly as possible.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the RECORD.

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