New Medicare Card: MBI Transition Ends in Less Than 10 Weeks

The 21 month Medicare Beneficiary Identifier (MBI) transition period ends on December 31, 2019. Are you ready?

Starting January 1, 2020, you must use the MBI when billing Medicare regardless of the date of service:

• We will reject claims submitted with Health Insurance Claim Numbers (HICNs) with a few exceptions
• We will reject all eligibility transactions submitted with HICNs

Many providers are using the MBI for Medicare transactions. For the week ending October 4, providers submitted 80% of fee-for-service claims with MBIs. Protect your patients’ identities by using MBIs now for all Medicare transactions.

Don’t have an MBI?

• Ask your patients for their cards. If they did not get a new card, give them the Get Your New Medicare Card flyer in English or Spanish.
• Use your Medicare Administrative Contractor’s look-up tool. Sign up for the Portal to use the tool.
• Check the remittance advice. We return the MBI on the remittance advice for every claim with a valid and active HICN. 

For more information, see the MLN Matters Article.