[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1275 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

112th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1275

To require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to remove social 
    security account numbers from Medicare identification cards and 
 communications provided to Medicare beneficiaries in order to protect 
              Medicare beneficiaries from identity theft.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             June 23, 2011

  Mr. Durbin (for himself, Mr. Kohl, and Mr. Bingaman) introduced the 
 following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 
                                Finance

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to remove social 
    security account numbers from Medicare identification cards and 
 communications provided to Medicare beneficiaries in order to protect 
              Medicare beneficiaries from identity theft.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Social Security Number Protection 
Act of 2011''.

SEC. 2. REQUIRING THE SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES TO 
              PROHIBIT THE DISPLAY OF SOCIAL SECURITY ACCOUNT NUMBERS 
              ON MEDICARE IDENTIFICATION CARDS AND COMMUNICATIONS 
              PROVIDED TO MEDICARE BENEFICIARIES.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 3 years after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Health and Human Services shall 
establish and begin to implement procedures to eliminate the 
unnecessary collection, use, and display of social security account 
numbers of Medicare beneficiaries.
    (b) Medicare Cards and Communications Provided to Beneficiaries.--
            (1) Cards.--
                    (A) New cards.--Not later than 3 years after the 
                date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 
                Health and Human Services shall ensure that each newly 
                issued Medicare identification card meets the 
                requirements described in subparagraph (C).
                    (B) Replacement of existing cards.--Not later than 
                5 years after the date of the enactment of this Act, 
                the Secretary of Health and Human Services shall ensure 
                that all Medicare beneficiaries have been issued a 
                Medicare identification card that meets the 
                requirements of subparagraph (C).
                    (C) Requirements.--The requirements described in 
                this subparagraph are, with respect to a Medicare 
                identification card, that the card does not display or 
                electronically store (in an unencrypted format) a 
                Medicare beneficiary's social security account number.
            (2) Communications provided to beneficiaries.--Not later 
        than 3 years after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 
        Secretary of Health and Human Services shall prohibit the 
        display of a Medicare beneficiary's social security account 
        number on written or electronic communication provided to the 
        beneficiary unless the Secretary determines that inclusion of 
        social security account numbers on such communications is 
        essential for the operation of the Medicare program.
    (c) Medicare Beneficiary Defined.--In this section, the term 
``Medicare beneficiary'' means an individual who is entitled to, or 
enrolled for, benefits under part A of title XVIII of the Social 
Security Act or enrolled under part B of such title.
    (d) Conforming Reference in the Social Security Act.--Section 
205(c)(2)(C) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 405(c)(2)(C)) is 
amended by adding at the end the following new clause:
    ``(xii) For provisions relating to requiring the Secretary of 
Health and Human Services to prohibit the display of social security 
account numbers on Medicare identification cards and communications 
provided to Medicare beneficiaries, see section 2 of the Social 
Security Number Protection Act of 2011.''.
    (e) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated such sums as may be necessary to carry out this section.
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