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written by: Curtis Byron | October 17, 2017 | 0 Comments

New Medicare Cards: What Do the New Medicare Cards Mean for Providers and Patients

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In an effort to protect Medicare beneficiaries, the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA) of 2015 require the removal of your Social Security Number (SSN) from current Medicare cards and replace it with the Medical Beneficiary Identifier (MBI).

All Medicare beneficiaries will be required to switch to the new MBI beginning April 1, 2018, with the transition complete on January 1, 2020.

Did you know that about 42 million Medicare cards currently display full SSN?The new Medicare card along with its new number will be used for Medicare transactions like billing, eligibility status, and claim status. While the new Medicare card will be used for processing, it will provide protection necessary to avoid medical identity theft.

What do new Medicare Cards Mean for Patients?

Medicare is removing Social Security Numbers from your Medicare cards, also known as the Health Insurance Claim Number (HICN). The new Medicare card which includes the new Medicare Beneficiary Identifier (MBI) will be mailed directly to you and therefore, you won’t have to do a thing. Here are some things you need to be aware of regarding your new Medicare card:

  • Medicare is removing your SSN from your Medicare card to protect your identity.
  • Medicare will be mailing you a new card which will include your new MBI.
  • The new MBI will be a unique number which is unique to you.
  • The new MBI number will be a combination of numbers and letters but will not include any special characters like ….#$[]*&.
  • Once you get your new card, please destroy your old card and begin using your new card immediately.
  • Protect yourself by making sure that no one can get your personal information from your old Medicare card.
  • Keep in mind that this will be a new card with a new number.
  • People with Medicare are beneficiaries.
  • Medicare will be mailing your new Medicare cards beginning in April 2018 continuing through April 2019.
  • Mailing the new card will take some time so Medicare is asking you to be patient and be aware that your friend or neighbor might receive their card before you.
  • It is critical that you keep your mailing address up to date so that you receive your new card in a timely manner.
  • If you are a Medicare Advantage consumer, you should continue to use your plan issuer ID card.

What do new Medicare Cards Mean for Providers?

The new Medicare card including the new Medicare number (MBI) will not only affect patients but will also affect their providers. Providers should prepare themselves, their staff, and their practice management systems for the change. Below are some important things to know and consider before April 2018.

  • Your patients will begin receiving their new cards in April 2018.
  • The new MBI number will be a combination of numbers and letters but will not include any special characters like ….#$[]*&.
  • CMS is committed to giving you the tools you need to ensure a smooth transition making the process easy for you, your staff, and your patients.
  • CMS is developing capabilities where you and your staff can look up the new MBI securely at the point of service.
  • CMS is aware that this is a big change and will be providing you with a 21-month transition period giving the ability to use either the HICN or the MBI for billing purposes.
  • CMS would like you and your staff to verify all of your Medicare patients’ addresses that you have on file and ask patients to contact Social Security if they need to update their information.
  • Remind your Medicare patients to bring their new Medicare cards to their appointments.
  • CMS also asks that you test your system and work with your staff to be sure your billing office is ready for the new MBI format.
  • Beginning in October 2018 and through the transition period, CMS will return the MBI and the HICN number on every remittance advice.
  • CMS continues to provide you with useful resources to keep you informed as we get closer to the April 2018 date.
    • Go to the CMS provider website and sign-up for their weekly newsletters.
    • Participate in their Quarterly “Open Door Forum” calls through the CMS website.
    • Work with CMS to help your Medicare patients adjust to the new cards.
  • Go to the CMS provider website and sign-up for their weekly newsletters.
  • Participate in their Quarterly “Open Door Forum” calls through the CMS website.
  • Work with CMS to help your Medicare patients adjust to the new cards.
  • Direct your Medicare patients to appropriate CMS resources to answer any questions they may have and to help them through the transition.

How will the MBI look and will the characters have any meaning?

The new MBI number will consist of a series of numbers and letters but will not include any special characters. The details relating to the new MBI are listed below:

  • How many characters will the MBI have? – The MBI has 11 characters, like the Health Insurance Claim Number (HICN), which can have up to 11.
  • Will the MBI’s characters have any meaning? – Each MBI is randomly generated. This makes MBIs different than HICNs, which is based on the Social Security Numbers (SSNs) of people with Medicare.  The MBI’s characters are “non-intelligent” so they don’t have any hidden or special meaning.
  • What kinds of characters will be used in the MBI? – MBI’s are numbers and upper-case letters. CMS will use numbers 0-9 and all letters from A to Z, except for S, L, O, I, B, and Z.  This will help the characters be easier to read.
  • How will the MBI look on the new card? – The MBI will contain letters and numbers.
    For example….1EG4-TE5-MK73

    • The MBI’s 2nd, 5th, 8th, and 9th characters will always be a letter.
    • Characters 1, 4, 7, 10, and 11 will always be a number.
    • The 3rd and 6th characters will be a letter or a number.
    • The dashes aren’t used as part of the MBI.  They won’t be entered into computer systems or used in file formats.

MBI Format

Position 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
Type C A AN N A AN N A A N N

 

Where will the MBI’s characters go? – C – Numeric 1 thru 9; N – Numeric 0 thru 9; AN – Either A or N; A –Alphabetic Character (A…Z); Excluding (S, L, O, I, B, Z)

For instance:

  • Position 1 – numeric values 1 thru 9
  • Position 2 – alphabetic values A thru Z (minus S, L, O, I, B, Z)
  • Position 3 – alpha-numeric values 0 thru 9 and A thru Z (minus S, L, O, I, B, Z)
  • Position 4 – numeric values 0 thru 9
  • Position 5 – alphabetic values A thru Z (minus S, L, O, I, B, Z)
  • Position 6 – alpha-numeric values 0 thru 9 and A thru Z (minus S, L, O, I, B, Z)
  • Position 7 – numeric values 0 thru 9
  • Position 8 – alphabetic values A thru Z (minus S, L, O, I, B, Z)
  • Position 9 – alphabetic values A thru Z (minus S, L, O, I, B, Z)
  • Position 10 – numeric values 0 thru 9
  • Position 11 – numeric values 0 thru 9

How will the MBI fit on forms? – MBI’swill fit on forms the same way HICNs do.  Spaces will not be needed for dashes.

Where can I get more information about the new Medicare cards? –The following link will be very helpful.https://www.cms.gov/Medicare/New-Medicare-Card/

Conclusion

Congress has informed CMS that SSN’s need to be removed from the Medicare cards. By replacing the old number with a new MBI, CMS will protect private health and financial information along with federal healthcare benefits and service payments. Please remember that the transition period begins no earlier than April of 2018 and will end January of 2020. CMS has promised to monitor the transition period to make sure that Medicare operations are not interrupted.

Providers/business partners will need to remember that Medicare plan exceptions will exist. For example, appeals will accept both the old and the new numbers; any adjustments will utilize the old numbers indefinitely for some systems including drug data processing, risk adjustments processing; and encounter data. Additionally, CMS will use the old numbers on all data coming into them and for several reports going out from them.

It is important to also understand that this transition is still several months away and things may change on a moment’s notice, therefore, please consult CMS, your medical billing office, or your revenue cycle management vendor for the most up to date information.

 

 

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