Medicare Claims Processing Manual (Pub. 100-04), Ch. 2 § 30.1
Cross-Reference of Medicare Beneficiary Identifier
30.1 - Cross-Reference of Medicare Beneficiary Identifier
(Rev. 4247, Issued: 03-01-19, Effective: 04-01-19, Implementation: 04-01 -19)
The term Medicare beneficiary identifier (Mbi) is a general term describing a
beneficiary's Medicare identification number. For purposes of this manual, Medicare
beneficiary identifier references both the Health Insurance Claim Number (HICN) and
the Medicare Beneficiary Identifier (MBI) during the new Medicare card transition
period and after for certain business areas that will continue to use the HICN as part of
their processes.
If a beneficiary’s entitlement to Medicare has been transferred from one Medicare
beneficiary identifier to another, the CWF will cross-reference the old number to the new
number. If there has been utilization of benefits under each number, all data will be
combined under the new number.
A. Disposition Code 51
1. If, after submitting the admission notice or Part B claim to CMS, the MAC receives
a disposition code of 51 with trailer code 01 containing a possible Medicare
beneficiary identifier, the MAC investigates the new Medicare beneficiary
identifier, and if it believes the new Medicare beneficiary identifier is correct, the
MAC resubmits the claim under the new Medicare beneficiary identifier. CWF
responds with an appropriate disposition code and any associated trailers for
processing the claim.
2. If the MAC receives a disposition code of 51 without trailer code 01, or after
investigation determines the Medicare beneficiary identifier in the 01 trailer is
incorrect, it denies the claim using the following message:
Payment cannot be made for the services you received from (name
of provider) because we have no record of your Medicare
beneficiary identifier. Please write your correct number on the
claim and resubmit the claim to (name of provider). If you think
the number is right, check with your local Social Security Office.
B. Disposition Code 55
If CWF returns disposition code 55 and trailer code 08 containing an error code of 5052,
indicating a mismatch in the beneficiary’s personal characteristics, CWF will also return
to the MAC what it believes to be the proper information on trailer code 10. The header
portion of the response also contains the corrected sex and birth date, if applicable, of the
beneficiary.
The MAC investigates the information provided, corrects the information on the claim,
and resubmits it to CWF. If the MAC continues to receive a code 55, it contacts the Host
through locally established procedures. See Chapter 27.