(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.
CMS encourages RDS Plan Sponsors and Vendors to review the following resources:
- New Medicare Cards
- Future Updates to the Retiree Drug Subsidy (RDS) System to Accommodate the New Medicare Card Project (Updated 9/25/2017, pdf, 59KB) – This memorandum provides information regarding the New Medicare Card Project and its impact to RDS Plan Sponsors and Vendors.
- New Medicare Card Webinar Highlights - On Tuesday, October 24, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' (CMS') Retiree Drug Subsidy (RDS) Center hosted a webinar about the upcoming New Medicare Card Project and how this project will impact the RDS Program.
- RDS New Medicare Card Project Webinar Slide Deck (pdf, 835KB)
- RDS Plan Sponsors and Vendors: MBI Reminder (May 10, 2018) - Your organization should only use the MBI information for system readiness and care coordination purposes as needed.