In order to protect Medicare beneficiaries from fraud and identity theft, CMS has unveiled a new Medicare card that removes the beneficiary's Social Security number from the card. Specifically, the current Social Security-based number – the Health Insurance Claim Number or HICN – is being replaced with a randomly-assigned Medicare Beneficiary Identifier (MBI) beginning in April 2018. This change will require providers to ensure that their systems can accept the new MBI format. CMS is providing a transition period during which providers can use either the HICN or the MBI on claims, after which the MBI must be used (with certain exceptions). CMS expects the transition period to run from April 1, 2018 through December 31, 2019. CMS is posting details about the transition here.
This article is presented for informational purposes only and is not intended to constitute legal advice.