GAO Urges Removal of SSNs From Medicare ID Cards
A Government Accountability Office report recommends that CMS develop an information technology project to remove Social Security numbers from Medicare identification cards because such identifiers pose privacy and security risks to beneficiaries. HHS officials said that they mostly agreed with GAO's recommendations but that a "clear source of funding for both IT and non-IT activities associated with SSN removal" would need to be identified before beginning such work.
- "GAO Pushes for Removal of Social Security Numbers From Medicare IDs" (Bowman, FierceHealthIT, 10/18).