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Medicare Beneficiary Identifier (MBI) Transition

Starting 1/1/2020, all Medicare claims must be submitted using the Medicare Beneficiary Identifier (MBI).

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) finished issuing new Medicare cards. The new cards replaced Health Insurance Claim Numbers (HICNs) with MBIs as required by the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA).

Use the MBI instead of the HICN, and do not use hyphens or spaces with the MBI. Claims submitted using the HICN as the beneficiary identifier will not be forwarded for processing. Electronic claims submitted without a valid MBI will receive an A7:164:IL rejection on a 277CA report.

MLN Matters number SE18006 provides guidance on obtaining individual MBI’s, and their usage.




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