The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is removing Social Security numbers from Medicare cards to help fight identity theft and safeguard taxpayer dollars. Providers have been advised that they must be ready by April 2018 to implement this change.

To help providers and beneficiaries find information quickly, CMS has designed a new homepage that includes information on how to talk to your Medicare patients about the new Medicare Card. Providers are urged to bookmark the New Medicare Card homepage and Provider webpage for quick access.

Beginning in April, CMS will begin mailing new Medicare cards with Medicare Beneficiary Identifiers (MBIs) to enrollees. CMS is still working on the best way to mail the cards and will keep providers posted about critical information so they can be ready to ask Medicare patients at the time of service if they have a new card with an MBI.

Providers can start using the MBI as soon as patients get their new cards in the spring. Providers’ systems must be ready to accept the MBI by April.

Beginning in October 2018, when providers submit a claim using a patient’s valid and active Social Security number, currently called the Health Insurance Claim Number (HICN), CMS will return both the HICN and the MBI on every remittance advice. This process will continue through the transition period, which ends Jan. 1, 2020.

To help with the transition, CMS is planning broad beneficiary outreach to inform beneficiaries that they must bring their new Medicare cards and share them when they receive medical care and to teach beneficiaries ways to get their MBIs if they've lost their Medicare card.

Providers and Medicare enrollees will both be able to look up the new MBI numbers through secure web interfaces that will support quick access to the MBI.

CMS also is holding Open Door Forums every quarter to obtain feedback; materials from past Open Door Forums are also available.