Medicare Blog

what is your medicare suffix if you have both a and b?

by Jennifer Bechtelar Published 2 years ago Updated 1 year ago

Medicare Suffixes Here’s what the letters behind the Medicare number mean: *A = retired worker = wife of retired worker B1 = husband of retired worker B6 = divorced wife B9 = divorced second wife

Full Answer

What does the suffix B mean on a Medicare number?

Numerical suffixes in the “B” category continue all the way to 9 (with B9 being the Medicare number suffix for a third husband). If your suffix code is anything in the “B” category, your spouse’s or ex-spouse’s Social Security Number, and not your own, will constitute the first nine numbers of your Medicare Claim Number.

What are the different Medicare suffixes?

Other Medicare suffixes in the “B” category include: 1 B1 for the husband (62 years or older) of a primary claimant 2 B2 for a young wife with a child in her care 3 B3 for a second wife aged 62 or older 4 B4 for a second husband

What does the Medicare suffix “d” mean?

Other Medicare suffixes in the “D” category include: “E” by itself indicates you are the widowed mother of a primary claimant.

What does the suffix code “C” mean on a Medicare claim number?

If your suffix code is anything in the “B” category, your spouse’s or ex-spouse’s Social Security Number, and not your own, will constitute the first nine numbers of your Medicare Claim Number. “C” indicates you are the child of a primary claimant. Numerical suffixes following “C” indicate which child you are in relation to the primary claimant.

Are Medicare Part A and Part B numbers the same?

Your card has a Medicare Number that's unique to you — it's not your Social Security Number. This helps protect your identity. The card shows: You have Medicare Part A (listed as HOSPITAL), Part B (listed as MEDICAL), or both.

Why do I have two Medicare numbers?

The front of your Medicare card indicates whether you are enrolled in Part A and/or Part B under the heading “IS ENTITLED TO.” If you are enrolled in the Medicare Part C (Medicare Advantage) plan or Medicare Part D (prescription drug) plan, that information appears on a separate card and not on your Medicare card.

What does the suffix on a Medicare number mean?

Here's what the letters behind the Medicare number mean: *A = retired worker. B. = wife of retired worker. B1 = husband of retired worker.

What is the difference between Hicn and MBI?

The MBI has 11 characters, like the Health Insurance Claim Number (HICN), which can have up to 11. Will the MBI's characters have any meaning? Each MBI is randomly generated. This makes MBIs different than HICNs, which are based on the Social Security Numbers (SSNs) of people with Medicare.

Can you have 2 Medicare numbers?

You can only be on 2 Medicare cards at the same time. Once you're 15 years or older you can get your own Medicare card. Read more about getting your Medicare card.

What do the letters mean on your Medicare card?

All “F” codes are followed by a number to signify the relationship. Code H — indicates Medicare eligibility due to disability. HA means you are a disabled claimant. HB means you are the wife of a disabled claimant. HC means you are the child of a disabled claimant.

How do I read my Medicare number?

The IRN appears to the left of the patient's name on their Medicare card. This is not a unique identifier. While your Individual Reference Number is the number to the left of your name on your card, your Medicare Card Number is the 10 digit number that appears above your name, across the top section of the card.

What does letter B after social security number mean?

Aged wife, age 62 or overB. Aged wife, age 62 or over. B1. Aged husband, age 62 or over.

What does a Hicn look like?

Health Insurance Claims Numbers (HICNs) The HICN issued by the RRB, may contain either 6 or 9 digit numbers with up to a 3-position letter prefix e.g., A123456 or MA123-45-6789. If a beneficiary's entitlement changes, it is possible for the 9-digit number, the prefix, the suffix or all three to change.

What is a Medicare Hicn?

The Health Insurance Claim Number (HICN) is a Medicare beneficiary's identification number, used for paying claims and for determining eligibility for services across multiple entities (e.g. Social Security Administration (SSA), Railroad Retirement Board (RRB), States, Medicare providers and health plans, etc.)

What is the MBI format?

MBI will contain Numbers and letters (Uppercase), that will use 0 to 9 numbers and all letters from A to Z, they have excluded S,L,O,I,B and Z so that will help all characters to easier to read. The MBI's 2nd, 5th, 8th, and 9th characters will always be a letter. Characters 1, 4, 7, 10, and 11 will always be a number.

Medicare ID numbers Suffixes and Prefixes

Most medicare identification numbers you will see end in A. This means that that person has medicare under their own social security number. However there are other ways a person can have medicare and those are reflected in the letter after the social security number on the medicare card.

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With an extensive 20 years of experience in all aspects of the insurance billing field and a vast knowledge of both hospital and private practice medical billing; Suzanne hopes to help others navigate the health insurance maze.

What is a 9 digit HICN?

All HICNs issued by SSA are 9-digit numbers with at least one letter suffix (called a beneficiary identification code or BIC) in the tenth position. If there is an eleventh position, it may be either a letter or number e.g. 123-45-6789A or 987-65-4321D4. The HICN issued by the RRB, may contain either 6 or 9 digit numbers with up to a 3-position letter prefix e.g., A123456 or MA123-45-6789. If a beneficiary’s entitlement changes, it is possible for the 9-digit number, the prefix, the suffix or all three to change. It is also possible to go from an SSA issued HICN to a RRB HICN or vise versa. The numeric portion of a 9-digit HICN consists of a Social Security Number (SSN). If the BIC is A, T, TA, M, M1, J1, J2, J3, J4 or the RRB prefix is A or H the number is the beneficiary’s own SSN. If the BIC or RRB prefix is other than one of the above, the SSN belongs to a number holder and the beneficiary is entitled as an auxiliary or survivor on that SSN.

Do husband and wife have the same Social Security number?

A husband and wife may have a HIC number that share the same Social Security numerics. However, every individual has their own alpha suffix at the end of the HIC number. In order to ensure proper claim payment, it is essential that the correct alpha suffix is appended to each HIC. No hyphens or dashes should be used.

What is the suffix C in Medicare?

“C” indicates you are the child of a primary claimant. Numerical suffixes following “C” indicate which child you are in relation to the primary claimant. If you are the first child, your suffix is C1; if you are the second child, your suffix is C2; if you are the third child, your suffix is C3; and so on. In all, numerical suffixes following C go all the way to number 9, depending on the order of birth of siblings. If your suffix code is anything in the “C” category, your primary claimant parent’s Social Security Number, and not your own, will constitute the first nine numbers of your Medicare Claim Number.

What does "A" mean in Medicare?

“A” means you are a retired wage earner and the primary claimant. Typically, you paid into the Medicare system during your working years over a period of at least 40 quarters.

What is the suffix for a parent?

“F” is the parent category, with suffixes for a primary claimant’s father (F1), mother (F2), stepfather (F3), stepmother (F4), adoptive father (F5), and adoptive mother (F6). There is no “F” suffix without a number following it. The primary claimant child’s Social Security Number will constitute the first nine digits of a Code “F” claimant’s Medicare number.

What does E mean in Social Security?

“E” alone indicates you are the widowed mother of a primary claimant. Other suffixes in the “E” category include E1 for the surviving divorced mother of a primary claimant; E2 for the second widowed mother of a primary claimant; E3 for the second divorced mother of the primary claimant; E4 for the primary claimant’s widowed father; and E5 for the primary claimant’s surviving divorced father. “E” may be a particularly complicated category given these convoluted variations. In all cases, the primary claimant’s Social Security Number will constitute the first nine digits of a Code “E” claimant’s Medicare number.

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