CMS plans to overhaul Medicare’s beneficiary identification system: What you need to know

From international law firm Arnold & Porter LLP comes a timely column that provides views on current regulatory and legislative topics that weigh on the minds of today’s physicians and health care executives.CMS is preparing to phase out identification of Medicare beneficiaries by Social Security number (SSN) and will, in their place, roll out a new system of Medicare Beneficiary Identifiers (MBIs). Beginning April 2018, CMS will start issuing new Medicare cards containing MBIs to enrolled beneficiaries and, at the same time, cease issuing cards with SSNs to new enrollees. In response, providers must take steps to ensure they will be able to process Medicare transactions using MBIs while — at least for a brief transition period — also maintaining a system compatible with beneficiaries’ SSNs. Health providers, health plans, and state Medicaid Agencies, among others, must successfully integrate MBI-compatible systems or risk interruption to or potential loss of Medicare funds.