According to an article presented by Novitas Solutions, new Medicare cards will be mailed to qualifying patients, beginning April 2018. See below for complete article and schedule information.

Beginning in April 2018, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will mail new Medicare cards to all Medicare beneficiaries on a flow basis by geographic location and other factors.

Mailing Schedule

  • April – June 2018
    Jurisdiction L – Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware and the Washington D.C. Metro Area (Arlington and Fairfax counties in Virginia, the city of Alexandria, VA, the District of Columbia, and Montgomery and Prince George’s counties in Maryland)
  • After June 2018
    Jurisdiction L – New Jersey, and
    Jurisdiction H – Colorado, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Indian Health Service and Veterans Affairs

Additional details on timing will be available as mailings progress.

Starting in April 2018, beneficiaries can check the status of card mailings in their area on Medicare.gov.

Transition Period
A transition period will begin no earlier than April 1, 2018 and run through Dec. 31, 2019. During the transition period, you can use either the new Medicare Beneficiary Identifier (MBI) or the old Medicare Health Insurance Claim Number (HICN).

Starting Jan. 1, 2020, you must use MBIs on claims regardless of the date of service.

CMS Educational Efforts
To prepare the health care industry for this change, CMS provided extensive outreach to the provider community and will continue to do so throughout the transition period. CMS holds regular Open Door Forum teleconferences to help you prepare your systems and business processes for a successful transition.

CMS also initiated extensive education and outreach to Medicare beneficiaries and their agents to help them prepare and understand the change in Medicare cards and numbers. CMS produced flyers, posters, tear-offs and conference cards in multiple languages to assist providers when talking to their patients with Medicare about the new Medicare cards.

For the latest news and updates regarding the new Medicare cards, please visit the CMS’ New Medicare cards page on the CMS website.

Our Educational Efforts
We are committed to helping you and your Medicare patients successfully transition to the new Medicare card. We will continue to include important updates in our educational symposiums, webinars, face-to-face events, newsletters, and publications.

For upcoming educational opportunities, please visit our Education & Training Center (JH) (JL).

For more information, please review “New Medicare Cards and Numbers are coming – Beginning April 2018.”

This article and all information provided by novitas-solutions.com.