Health Insurance (HI) Card

30.2 - Health Insurance (HI) Card (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. As part of health insurance electronic data processing, HI cards are issued by CMS (or by the RRB where railroad retirement beneficiaries are involved) to individuals who have established entitlement to health insurance. (See Chapter 2 of the Medicare General Information, Eligibility, and Entitlement Manual.) The health insurance card is used to identify the individual as being entitled and serves as a source of information required to process Medicare claims or bills. The health insurance card displays the beneficiary’s name, sex, Medicare beneficiary identifier, and effective date of entitlement to hospital insurance and/or medical insurance. If any MAC receives an inquiry about replacing a lost or destroyed HI card, it informs the inquirer to get in touch with the SSO nearest the inquirer’s address for assistance. SSO addresses are generally listed in local telephone directories under “Social Security Administration.” A health insurance card is acceptable without a signature, but the provider will ask the patient to sign it.