TIER Medicare MBI Numbers
Overview
The Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA) of 2015 requires Medicare to remove Social Security Numbers (SSNs) from all Medicare cards by April 2019. A new Medicare Beneficiary Identifier (MBI) will replace the SSN-based Health Insurance Claim Number (HICN) on the new Medicare cards for Medicare transactions like billing, eligibility status, and claim status.
Under the new system, Medicare will assign a new MBI for each person enrolled in Medicare. Beginning in April 2018, Medicare will start mailing the new Medicare cards with the MBI to all people with Medicare coverage. New Medicare beneficiaries enrolled after April 1, 2018 will automatically get an MBI assigned. Medicare plans to have a transition period where organizations can use either the HICN or the MBI to exchange data with Medicare.The transition period will begin no earlier than April 1, 2018 and run through December 31, 2019.
To assist with this transition, Netsmart has created a report to help monitor Medicare beneficiaries that still need to provide their new MBI number.