What Is the Medicare Beneficiary Identifier?
As a result of the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA), the social security number-based Health Insurance Claim Number (HICN) was removed from the Medicare card and replaced with the new Medicare Beneficiary Identifier (MBI). All Medicare beneficiaries were mailed new Medicare cards identifying their newly assigned, system-generated MBIs.
Beginning January 1, 2020, the MBI is used in all Medicare transactions in place of the HICN.