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What's the Social Security Number Removal Initiative (SSNRI)?

The Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA) of 2015, requires us to remove Social Security Numbers (SSNs) from all Medicare cards by April 2019. A new Medicare Beneficiary Identifier (MBI) will replace the SSN-based Health Insurance Claim Number (HICN) on the new Medicare cards for Medicare transactions like billing, eligibility status, and claim status. You can find more details in our 11/1/16 SSNRI Open Door Forum slides.

We currently use an SSN-based HICN to identify people with Medicare and administer the program. We’ve used the HICN with our business partners:

The Social Security Administration (SSA)
The United States Railroad Retirement Board (RRB)
State Medicaid Agencies
Health care providers
Health plans
Under the new system, for each person enrolled in Medicare, we’ll:

Assign a new MBI
Send a new Medicare card
The MBI is confidential like the SSN and should be protected as Personally Identifiable Information.

Why is the SSNRI important?

The biggest reason we're taking the SSN off of Medicare cards is to fight medical identity theft for people with Medicare.

By replacing the SSN-based HICN on all Medicare cards, we can better protect:

Private health care and financial information
Federal health care benefit and service payments
We've often heard from Congress, the General Accountability Office, people with Medicare, and advocacy groups that they want the SSN taken off Medicare cards.

What’s the SSNRI timeline & what does it mean for me?

Getting started

Moving to new Medicare numbers and cards requires a lot of changes to our systems and how we do business. The same is true for you -- our business partners.

We’ve already started this work and want to help you shift to the new MBIs by April 2018. Beginning in April 2018, we’ll start sending the new Medicare cards with the MBI to all people with Medicare.

Transition period

We plan to have a transition period where you can use either the HICN or the MBI to exchange data with us. The transition period will begin no earlier than April 1, 2018 and run through December 31, 2019.

Once the transition period’s over, you’ll still be able to use the HICN for:

Appeals If you’ve used the HICN on a claim, then you can use either the HICN or MBI for that claim’s appeals (and related forms).
Reports (we’ll use the HICN on these reports until further notice)
Incoming to CMS (quality reporting, Disproportionate Share Hospital data requests, etc.)
Outgoing from CMS (Provider Statistical & Reimbursement Report, Accountable Care Organization Reports, etc.)
Retroactive enrollment
Span-date claims Use the HICN for 11X-Inpatient Hospital, 32X-Home Health, and 41X-Religious Non-Medical Health Care Institution claims if the “From Date” is before the end of the transition period (12/31/2019)
Adjustments Use the HICN when you originally submitted a HICN on the claim (Prescription Drug Event, Risk Adjustment and Encounter data, etc.)
Incoming information requests (inquiries, Medicare Secondary Payer information requests, Requests for Medical Documentation, etc.)
Incoming premium payments (Part A premiums, Part B premiums, Part D income related monthly adjustment amounts, etc.)
How will the MBI look?

The MBI will be:

Clearly different than the HICN and RRB number
11-characters in length
Made up only of numbers and uppercase letters (no special characters)
Use our MBI Format specifications to make changes to your systems.

What does the SSNRI mean for people with Medicare?

The MBI won’t change Medicare benefits. People with Medicare may start using their new Medicare cards and MBIs as soon as they get them.

Where can I get more information about the SSNRI?

Get our Open Door Forum materials:

About the SSNRI (11/1/16)
For Coordination of Benefits Agreement (COBA) trading partners and their associates (1/11/17)
For Medicare Secondary Payer (MSP) stakeholders and processes (1/11/17)

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