photo by: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services

New Medicare cards that look like this one are now being mailed out in Kansas. The cards no longer contain beneficiaries' Social Security numbers.

New Medicare cards are on their way to the mailboxes of beneficiaries in Kansas this month.

The new cards will no longer bear beneficiaries’ Social Security numbers, in hopes of preventing fraud and theft of important personal information. Instead, the cards will list a randomly assigned Medicare number, according to a news release from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

According to CMS, beneficiaries should securely destroy their old Medicare cards once they receive their new ones and keep their new Medicare numbers confidential. The new cards do not change any members’ program or benefit eligibilities.

Those who became eligible after April 1, 2018 might have already received a card that follows the new format.

Medicare will not contact you for your Medicare number or other personal information in order for you to obtain your new card, CMS said in the release. The cards are free, so if anyone calls and says you need to pay for your card, that is a scam, CMS said.