Practice Management Alert

Question: What should I recommend if a Medicare beneficiary patient asks what to do with their old Medicare cards once their new cards with the Medicare Beneficiary Identifier (MBI) arrives?

Idaho Subscriber

Answer: "Destroying the old card and using the new card immediately is an understood protocol, but consumers appreciate this as good information to reconfirm," says the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) in a Messaging Guidelines Information resource sheet. CMS is rolling out this new identifier system and cards to protect beneficiaries' privacy and personal information, but everyone needs to take part in securing their information in privacy. Patients should destroy their old cards as soon as their new cards arrive.