• How to find a patient's new Medicare number

    Starting next month, you’ll be able to look up your Medicare patients’ new Medicare numbers (known as the Medicare Beneficiary Identifier, or MBI) through the secure web portal of your Medicare Administrative Contractor (MAC). If you don’t already have access to your MAC’s portal, sign up now.

    Note, you can discover a patient’s MBI this way only if Medicare has mailed the beneficiary a new Medicare card. Medicare is mailing cards to its beneficiaries in phases by geographic location. Ask your patients for their new cards when they come for care if they are newly enrolled in Medicare or in an area of the country where Medicare has already begun mailing the new cards. If patients don’t have their new cards when they come for care, you still can look up their MBI, assuming the new Medicare card has been mailed to them.
     
    Starting in October, Medicare will also return MBIs on remittance advices when you submit claims with valid and active Health Insurance Claim Numbers – the Medicare numbers that MBIs are replacing. For more information, see the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ web site.

    – Kent Moore, Senior Strategist for Physician Payment at the American Academy of Family Physicians

    Posted on May 25, 2018 by Kent Moore


    Disclaimer: The opinions and views expressed here are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent or reflect the opinions and views of the American Academy of Family Physicians. This blog is not intended to provide medical, financial, or legal advice. Some payers may not agree with the advice given. This is not a substitute for current CPT and ICD-9 manuals and payer policies. All comments are moderated and will be removed if they violate our Terms of Use.