The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has notified healthcare providers that it is taking steps to remove Social Security numbers from Medicare cards to help prevent fraud, fight identity theft and protect essential program funding.  CMS will issue new Medicare cards with a new unique, randomly-assigned number called a Medicare Beneficiary Identifier (MBI) to replace the existing Social Security-based Health Insurance Claim Number (HICN) both on the cards and in various CMS systems they use now.  Learn about what you can do to get ready for this change.

CMS will start mailing new cards to people with Medicare benefits in April 2018.  All Medicare cards will be replaced by April 2019.

CMS is committed to helping providers by giving them the tools they need and making this process as easy as possible for providers, their staff, and patients. Based on feedback from healthcare providers, practice managers and other stakeholders, CMS is developing capabilities where providers will be able to look up the new MBI through a secure tool at the point of service. To make this change easier for you and your business operations, there is a 21-month transition period where all healthcare providers will be able to use either the MBI or the HICN for billing purposes.

Therefore, even though your systems will need to be able to accept the new MBI format by April 2018, you can continue to bill and file healthcare claims using a patient’s HICN during the transition period. We encourage you to work with your billing vendor to make sure that your system will be updated to reflect these changes as well.

Beginning in April 2018, Medicare patients will have new cards in hand.

CMS offers these five steps you can take to help your facility get ready:

1. Go to our provider website and sign-up for the weekly MLN Connects newsletter.
2. Attend our quarterly calls to get more information. We’ll let you know when 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 address you get on electronic eligibility transactions, ask your patients to contact Social Security and update their Medicare records.
4. Work with us to 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 to help us 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.

To learn more, visit the CMS Social Security Removal Initiative webpage.