The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is readying a fraud prevention initiative that removes Social Security numbers from Medicare cards to help combat identity theft. The new cards will use a unique, randomly assigned number called a Medicare Beneficiary Identifier (MBI). CMS will begin mailing the new cards in April 2018 and will meet the deadline for replacing all Medicare cards by April 2019. This change represents a major undertaking for all practices in updating member ID#’s for all Medicare patients. It will be important to educate all staff on this change and ensure these updates are made in your PM / Billing Systems.
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