Changes to the Medicaid Card

Medicaid clients will no longer have to present a letter-sized piece of paper when visiting the doctor, dentist, pharmacy or clinic for their Medicaid services. The Texas Health and Human Service Commission (HHSC) has tossed the outdated paper Medicaid ID, known as Form 3087, and replaced it with a plastic magnetic-striped card. In August, the agency started issuing the new Medicaid ID cards to Texas Medicaid clients and as of October HHSC is no longer producing the paper cards. The new ID is titled the Your Texas Benefits Medicaid card and can be seen above.

With the new card comes a shift in how a person’s Medicaid eligibility is verified.

The front of the card shows the person’s Medicaid ID number and the same number is embedded in a magnetic strip on the back of the card, accessible with a basic swipe-style card reader. Providers will have the following choices of ways to verify the person’s Medicaid eligibility:

• Enter the person’s Medicaid ID number at the Medicaid eligibility verification website.
• Visit TexMedConnect on the Texas Medicaid & Healthcare Partnership (TMHP) website.
• Call the TMHP Contact Center at 1-800-925-9126.

Organizations that serve Medicaid clients (i.e., Head Start, Salvation Army, Women, Infants and Children [WIC], etc.) can still use the Medicaid ID number to determine a person’s active Medicaid status.

For more information about the card, visit the Your Texas Benefits Card website. For frequently asked questions about how to use the new card please visit the HHSC website.