The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) now requires Medicare Advantage plans to use a beneficiary’s Medicare Beneficiary Identifier (MBI) for all enrollment transactions. Please ensure all Medicare enrollment transactions you or your clients submit to Kaiser Permanente include the MBI.
The MBI replaces the Health Insurance Claim Number (HICN) and can be found on all Medicare cards issued after April 2018. The MBI provides stronger identity protection to beneficiaries because it consists of 11 randomly generated characters. The HCIN, on the other hand, included a beneficiary’s entire Social Security Number (SSN) and a simple letter or letter-number designation.
If clients have recently become eligible for Medicare but have not received a new Medicare card and MBI in time to enroll in a Kaiser Permanente Medicare Advantage plan, they can submit with their SSN. However, we can’t finalize enrollment without the MBI.
If we don’t obtain a beneficiary’s MBI by day 7 of the agent receipt date listed on the completed election form, the election form will be placed into the verification process. This gives the member more time to provide their MBI. If the MBI isn’t submitted within the new time frame, enrollment will be denied.
Beneficiaries can view their MBI and print an official copy of their Medicare card by signing in to their online Medicare account at myMedicare.gov. If beneficiaries don’t have an online account, they can create one on the website. Beneficiaries can also call Medicare at 1-800-633-4227 (TTY 1-877-486-2048) for help getting their new Medicare card and MBI.
Questions? Contact our Medicare Sales and Broker Support team at 1-800-581-8252 or KPWA.medicare@kp.org.