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New, Unique Medicare Numbers to Replace Social Security Numbers on Cards by End of 2019

Is Your Billing Department Ready for MBI’s?

By Barrye Panepinto Miyag

Click here for CMS press release

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) will remove social security numbers from Medicare cards by April 2019. A new Medicare Beneficiary Identifier (MBI) will replace social security numbers on Medicare cards.

Distribution of the new Medicare cards will begin in April 2018, with a goal of everyone having new Medicare cards by the end of 2019. During the transition period, providers may use either the old or new Medicare cards.

CMS and the Medicare Learning Network (MLN) report that these changes are taking place to further protect people with Medicare from fraudulent use of Social Security numbers, which can lead to identity theft and illegal use of Medicare benefits.

For more news on the transition to Medicare numbers and cards, click here to view the MLN and CMS FAQs fact sheet.