Pathology/Lab Coding Alert

Question: I’ve heard that Medicare is removing the patient’s Social Security Number (SSN) from their Medicare insurance cards. Is that true, and if so, what is the timeline and how should we prepare?

Oklahoma Subscriber

Answer: Yes, that’s true. According to Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA), Medicare cards would no longer contain SSNs beyond the next four years, by the end of fiscal year 2018.

Despite the known risks of identity theft when using SSNs, the Medicare program has continued to utilize beneficiaries’ SSNs, or an easily identifiable derivative of the SSN, as the identifier appearing on the Medicare beneficiary’s insurance card. But all that will change.

Under MACRA, Medicare and the Social Security Administration (SSA) will embark on a multi-year process to issue or re-issue Medicare identification cards that do not include SSNs. The process will not necessarily eliminate Medicare’s continued use of a beneficiary’s SSN, but it will put an end to the use of a beneficiary’s SSN on his Medicare ID card, which today is routinely presented when seeking health services and then is subsequently re-disclosed in medical records and health claims forms, which all create opportunities for theft or misuse of such number. Industry experts speculate that this change is in response to the recent high-profile data breach cases involving major insurers like Anthem and Premera.

The complete text of MACRA is available at www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BILLS-114hr2enr/pdf/BILLS-114hr2enr.pdf . “Prohibition of Inclusion of Social Security Account Numbers on Medicare Cards” is in Section 501 of the law.