Medicare Beneficiary Identifier - get it, use it

Effective date: N/A

Implementation date: N/A

Summary

The effective date of the Medicare Beneficiary Identifier (MBI), like the old Health Insurance Claim Number (HICN), is the date each beneficiary was or is eligible for Medicare. Use MBIs for all Medicare transactions. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) replaced the Social Security Number (SSN)-based HICNs with the MBI and mailed new Medicare cards to all Medicare beneficiaries. The cards with MBIs offer better identity protection. 

There are three ways to get MBIs:

• Ask your Medicare patients
• Use the MAC's secure MBI lookup tool
• Check the remittance advice