Check out this reminder from CMS about Medicare and the social security number initiative, as well as tips and links to where you can learn more about the announcement.nnAs you know, beginning in April 2018, CMS will start mailing Medicare cards with new Medicare Beneficiary Identifiers (MBIs) to all people with Medicare. The MBI will replace the Social Security Number (SSN)-based Health Insurance Claim Number for transactions like billing, eligibility status, and claim status after a transition period. Make sure your systems are ready:n
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- Visit our Social Security Number Removal Initiative (SSNRI) Home and Provider webpages for the latest details about the transition. Subscribe to the weekly MLN Connects newsletter for updates and new information.
- Verify your patients’ addresses. Your patients will not get a new card if their address is not correct. If the address you have on file is different than the Medicare address you get in electronic eligibility transaction responses, ask your patients to correct their address in Medicare’s records through Social Security. This may require coordination between your billing and office staff.
- Attend our quarterly calls to get more information. We will let you know when calls are scheduled in MLN Connects.
- Work with us to help your Medicare patients with the change to the MBI. This fall (2017), we will be in touch with ways to help.
- Get ready to use the new MBI Format. Ask your billing and office staff if your system will be ready to accept the 11 digit alpha numeric MBI. If you use vendors to bill Medicare, ask them about their MBI practice management system changes and make sure they are ready for the change. Make and internally test changes to your practice management systems and business processes by April 2018, before we mail the new Medicare cards.
- If you are a vendor who partners with Medicare providers to bill Medicare, communicate with them about your system readiness and what they should expect to see from you beginning April 2018.
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