The 9.5 million Medicare cards held by Australians are to be replaced. An advertising campaign will begin this week urging people to ensure their Medicare address is up to date. Medicare cards with magnetic strips were issued with magnetic strips in 1991 and have a life of five years when they must be replaced for security and wear and tear. The first of the cards will expire at the end of April. About 400,000 cards a month will be replaced in April, May and June and 320,000 a month thereafter. The cost will be about $2 million year and will take about two years. The Minister for Health, Carmen Lawrence, said that people who had made a recent claim and as a result provided a recent address would have a new card issued automatically. But bulk-billed patients and those who had not had a claim in the past six months would need to renew. A letter would be sent inviting renewals. People should check the expiry date of their card and if they did not get a letter, it meant Medicare did not have their address. Cardholders can check their address at any Medicare office or phoning 132011 for the cost of a local call. Dr Lawrence said some leeway would be given, but it was important to have a valid card. The first bulk-bill lodged after expiry would be paid, but subsequent claims would be rejected until the patient got a new card.