All of your Medicare patients will get new cards and ID numbers...to help protect against identity theft and fraud.
The new paper Medicare cards will still be red, white, and blue. But instead of a Social Security number, they'll have a unique, random, 11-character ID number called a Medicare Beneficiary Identifier (MBI).
Tell your Medicare patients to watch for their new card in the mail between Apr 2018 and Apr 2019...and to bring it in so you can update their profile. Cards will be sent in waves based on location and other factors.
Your system must be able to accept the new number by Apr 1, 2018...since patients new to Medicare after that will only get an MBI.
Bill with the new ID as soon as you have it. But be aware CMS will accept the old or new ID number on claims through Dec 31, 2019.
Warn about scams claiming that patients must pay or provide personal information to get a new card. Advise patients to keep their Medicare ID confidential...and to destroy their old card when they get the new one.
Share our handout, Your New Medicare Card, to explain the changes...and give your techs our tutorial, Medicare ABCs, for billing help.
- www.cms.gov/Medicare/New-Medicare-Card/
- www.cms.gov/Newsroom/MediaReleaseDatabase/Press-releases/2017-Press-releases-items/2017-05-30.html
- www.cms.gov/Outreach-and-Education/Medicare-Learning-Network-MLN/MLNProducts/Downloads/MedicareCard-FactSheet-TextOnly-909365.pdf
- Patient Education: Your New Medicare Card
- Technician Tutorial: The ABCs of Medicare