New Medicare Beneficiary Identifier Cards

The Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA) mandates the removal of the Social Security Number (SSN)-based Health Insurance Claim Number (HICN) from Medicare cards. New Medicare Beneficiary Identifier (MBI) cards are intended to help reduce identity theft for people with Medicare. Only Medicare beneficiaries will be affected by the change. The new cards will use randomly selected MBI numbers to replace the current SSN-based HICN for Medicare transactions like billing, eligibility status, and claim status. MBI will be 11 characters in length, made up of numbers and uppercase letters, and clearly different from HICN.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is implementing a 21-month transition period beginning on April 1, 2018 and ending on Dec. 31, 2019. The first MBI cards will be mailed in April. MBI cards will be mailed out in phases based on geographic regions. New York State MBI cards will be mailed after June in the fourth of seven mailing phases with other northeastern states. By April 2019, all HICN cards will be replaced. CMS suggests that Medicare beneficiaries destroy their HICN cards immediately after receiving their MBI card. However, both the HICN and MBI cards will be accepted during the entire 21-month transition period until Jan. 1, 2020, when only MBI will be accepted with few exceptions.

CMS is creating a secure lookup tool to assist providers that need to access a Medicare beneficiary’s information at the point of sale. To use the security tool, providers will need the beneficiary’s first and last name, SSN, and their date of birth. The MBI lookup tool is expected to be available by June.

CMS suggests that each provider follow five steps to get ready for the MBI change:

1. Go to the CMS provider website and sign up for the weekly MLN Connects newsletter.
2. Attend quarterly calls to get more information. The calls are scheduled in the MLN Connects newsletter.
3. Verify all of your Medicare patients’ addresses. If the addresses you have on file are different than the Medicare addresses you get on electronic eligibility transactions, ask your patients to contact Social Security and update their Medicare records.
4. Help your Medicare patients adjust to their new Medicare card. When available later this fall, you can display helpful information about the new Medicare cards. Hang posters about the change in your offices to help spread the word.
5. Test your system changes and work with your billing office staff to be sure your office is ready to use the new MBI format.

A fact sheet on the project is posted here, and additional information regarding new Medicare cards is available here.

Contact: Ken Allison, kallison@leadingageny.org, 518-867-8820