(Known before as the Social Security Number Removal Initiative (SSNRI))
Personal identity theft affects a large and growing number of seniors. People age 65 or older are increasingly the victims of this type of crime. The Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA) of 2015 requires that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) remove Social Security Numbers (SSNs) from all Medicare cards by April 2019. As part of a fraud prevention initiative to help combat identity theft and safeguard taxpayer dollars, a new Medicare Beneficiary Identifier (MBI) will replace the SSN-based Health Insurance Claim Number (HICN) on new Medicare cards which will be mailed to beneficiaries between April 2018 and April 2019. For more information about the New Medicare Card Project, please refer to the following resources:
Please review the memo titled Future Updates to the Retiree Drug Subsidy (RDS) System to Accommodate the New Medicare Card Project (updated 09/25/2017) for a summary of the impact that the New Medicare Card Project will have on RDS Plan Sponsors and Vendors. CMS will communicate with the RDS community through the RDS Program Website and email correspondence as new information about the implementation becomes available.