New Medicare Cards are set to arrive in 2018
Due to the rising issues of identity theft in the country, the Social Security Administration fears that the current Medicare cards labeled with beneficiaries social security numbers are a high risk. A bill signed in 2015, by President Obama gives the Department of Health and Human Services until 2019, to remove all SSN from Medicare cards. The four year initiative is called the Social Security Number Removal Initiative (SSNRI) will replace all current Medicare cards with a unique 11 character identification number that will be used instead.
Background
The social security number (SSN) was an original response to the 1930’s, to help track the benefits of American workers wages. It wasn’t until 1965 when President Johnson enacted the Medicare program, that SSN’s started to be used in other government programs. Today, Medicare identification cards are a common sight in private healthcare facilities and offices. Unfortunately, they are also a rising issue of identity theft and fraud. A beneficiaries name and SSN can be stolen and used to commit various theft crimes or healthcare fraud. With more than 4,500 people joining Medicare each day, the SSNRI hopes to remedy the problem by replacing all old cards by 2019.
The legislation that sparked the acceleration of new Medicare cards is well known by most medical providers. The provision exists within MACRA.
New Medicare Card Format
What will the new Medicare cards look without SSN’s? The new Medicare cards will have a new look and format to them. They will have a new Medicare Beneficiary Identifier or (MBI). Just like other health insurance claim numbers, the new MBI will be made up of 11 characters:
What will the New MBI Look Like?
- It will contain a unique 11 character ID # made up of both letters and numbers
Example MBI: 4DJ7-BE3-YH54
- Out of the 11 Characters, the 2cd, 5th, 8th and 9th will always be letters
- Out of the 11 Characters, the 1st, 4th, 7th, 10th and 11th will always be numbers
- Out of the 11 Characters, the 3rd and 6th can be either letter or number
- No dashes will be used in entering the new MBI’s into computer software systems
- Only numbers 0-9 will be used
- All letters will be used except S, L, O, I, B, and Z
How are the New Cards Issued?
The new Medicare cards will automatically be sent out to all beneficiaries between April of 2018 and April of 2019. There are no further actions required. Medical providers will be able to accept the new format by April 2018. The new cards can be used exactly as the old ones and will show the Medicare coverage start dates the beneficiary has through part A, part B or both
