What Is My Medicare Group Number?
- Your Medicare group number should be on your insurance card for your Medicare Advantage, Medicare Supplement or Part D plan. If you only have Original Medicare, you don’t have a group number, but your 11-digit Medicare number is on your red, white and blue Medicare card.
You might look at your Medicare card and wonder where your group number is. Your red, white and blue card for Original Medicare (Part A and Part B) does not include a group number.
Original Medicare is not a group policy, therefore there is no “group” in which to belong. Instead, you will see an 11-digit alphanumeric on your card which is used to identify you and file claims under your name. This is your Medicare number.
If you have a private Medicare insurance plan, however, you may potentially have a group number related to your policy, depending on your plan. You should check your insurance card for your private Medicare plan – such as a Medicare Advantage (Part C) plan, a Medicare Part D prescription drug plan or a Medicare Supplement (Medigap) plan – to find your group number, if your plan assigned you one.
You can also contact your insurance company directly for help with a Medicare group number lookup or to find the information you’re looking for.
What Is a Health Insurance Group Number?
A group number is assigned to the employer or other group that sponsors an insurance plan for its employees or other individuals covered by the group plan. Each member of the group will share the same group number, but each person will have their own unique member number.
A group number helps identify the benefits provided by the plan and is used by health care providers in the billing process.
Group numbers are generally only used for employer-sponsored plans or other group plans. Individual plans purchased directly from an insurance carrier or through the health insurance marketplace typically do not have a group number because they are not tied to any employer or group.
Nearly all insurance plans will assign members an individual member ID number, however. The member number can be found on your insurance card and may also be referred to as a policy number.
Does Private Medicare Have Group Numbers?
Original Medicare is not group coverage and therefore has no corresponding group number. But private Medicare plans may have a group number associated with the plan.
Private Medicare insurance includes:
- Medicare Part C (Medicare Advantage). These plans provide all the same benefits as Medicare Part A and Part B and may offer coverage for things not found in Original Medicare.
- Medicare Part D (Prescription Drug Plans). Medicare Part D provides coverage for prescription medications, which is a benefit not covered by Original Medicare.
- Medicare Supplement Insurance (Medigap). Medicare Supplement Insurance works alongside your Original Medicare coverage by picking up the cost of certain deductibles, copayments, coinsurance and other out-of-pocket costs associated with Medicare Part A and Part B.
Medicare Group Number Lookup
Members of private Medicare plans may see a group number on their card that corresponds with their coverage. Instead of being grouped by company as you might in an employer-sponsored plan, beneficiaries of private Medicare plans may be grouped by area and plan type.
What Is a Medicare Group?
While Original Medicare is not group coverage, there are some group Medicare insurance plans available from private insurance companies.
One particular type of Medicare Advantage plan is an employer group waiver plan (EGWP). These group plans are offered by some employers to their employees who are age 65 and over along with retirees as part of a retiree benefit package. EGWPs may also be offered by unions and government agencies. These plans are similar to the group plans traditionally offered to the employees of a company.
EGWPs are most often available as PPO (Preferred Provider Organization) plans and may offer extra benefits not commonly found in most other Medicare Advantage plans. These plans can include monthly premiums (split between employer and employee), deductibles, copayments and coinsurance just like most any other insurance plan.
If you belong to an employer group waiver plan, you will likely have a group number visible on your insurance card.
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