ED Coding and Reimbursement Alert

Question: How long do we have before we need to start reporting Medicare claims with the patient’s MBIs? We’re still using their old ID numbers but we’d like to know when we have to switch over.

Codify Subscriber

Answer: If patients give you their new Medicare news and their updated identifiers, then your best bet is to begin using them now.

CMS announced that it “sent new cards to more than 61 million people with Medicare across all U.S. states and territories, completing the mailing ahead of schedule,” according to a new release. The original deadline for sending the new cards was April of this year, after starting in April 2018.

Technically, providers do have until Dec. 31, 2019to switch over to using the new MBIs instead of the old Social Security Number-based Health Insurance Card Numbers, CMS allows. But if patients are presenting the new numbers, you should be using those when billing for services.

Get the MBI details at www.cms.gov/newsroom/press-releases/cms-finalizes-new-medicare-card-distribution-ahead-deadline-accelerating-fight-against-medicare.