New MBI to appear on remittance advices

Physicians who bill Medicare will begin receiving a newly designed remittance advice this month that reflects the ongoing switch to the new Medicare Beneficiary Identifier (MBI).

As part of the transition period that runs from Oct. 1 to Dec. 31, 2019, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will return both the MBI and the legacy Health Insurance Claim Number (HICN) when you submit a claim with a valid and active HICN. CMS will report the MBI in the same place you get the “changed HICN” today. You can also get the MBI by asking your patients for their new Medicare card or using your Medicare administrative contractor’s MBI look-up tool through their portal; you can sign up if you do not have access. As a reminder, you can use either the HICN or MBI for all Medicare transactions through Dec. 31, 2019.
 
– Kent Moore, Senior Strategist for Physician Payment for the American Academy of Family Physicians