Complete Story
06/16/2017
CMS Announces....
5 Ways for Healthcare Providers to Get Ready for New Medicare Cards
CMS will issue new Medicare cards with 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. CMS will start mailing new cards to people with Medicare benefits in April 2018. All Medicare cards will be replaced by April 2019.
Beginning in April 2018, Medicare patients will come to your office with new cards in hand. To be prepared for this transition CMS offers 5 steps to help your office or healthcare facility get ready:
- Go to Provider website and sign-up for the weekly MLN Connects newsletter.
- Attend their quarterly calls to get more information. They will let you know when calls are scheduled in the MLN Connects newsletter.
- Verify all 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.
- Work with CMS to help the 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 CMS spread the word.
- Test your system changes and work with your billers to be sure your office is ready to use the new MBI format.
