CMS Release
New Medicare Card Flyer for Your Patients
CMS finished mailing new Medicare cards. The new cards without Social Security numbers offer better identity protection. Help protect your patient’s personal identity by getting their new Medicare Beneficiary Identifier and using it for Medicare business, including claims submission and eligibility transactions. Give the Get Your New Medicare Card (PDF) flyer to patients who do not have a new card.
New Medicare Card: Transition Period Ends in Less Than 6 Months
Starting January 1, 2020, you must use the Medicare Beneficiary Identifier (MBI). We will reject claims you submit with the Health Insurance Claim Number (HICN), with a few exceptions and reject all eligibility transactions.
Many providers are using the MBI for Medicare transactions. For the week ending July 5, providers submitted 76% of fee-for-service claims with the MBI. Protect your patients’ identities by using MBIs now for all Medicare transactions. Don’t have an MBI?
- Ask your patients for their card. If they did not get a new card, give them the Get Your New Medicare Card flyer in English (PDF) or Spanish (PDF).
- Use your Medicare Administrative Contractor’s look up tool. Sign up (PDF) for the Portal to use the tool.
- Check the remittance advice. We return the MBI on the remittance advice for every claim with a valid and active HICN.
For more information, see the MLN Matters Article (PDF).
HETS MBI Usage Statistics
The MCARE Help Desk will contact HETS Submitters whose MBI utilization rate is below 59% average soon to discuss your organization's MBI usage in eligibility requests. MCARE will give HETS submitters a report with specific MBI usage information on a NPI-by-NPI basis. HETS Submitters can use this data to identify Medicare providers that may need updated products or educational outreach to ensure that they are not negatively impacted on January 1, 2020.