Tip of the Day: Get those SSNs to CMS

Effective Jan. 1, employers will be required to submit to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Social Security numbers for covered workers and dependents to comply with a new federal mandate. You've been hearing about this for months, but if you're like us, there's no time like the last minute! Your health insurance carrier likely has already buzzed you about collecting the information.

Among the 411 you'll need to provide:
Tax ID number
Total number of full-time and part-time employees (even those not enrolled in your health plan)
Social Security Number (SSN) for employees and dependents enrolling in new plans as of Jan. 1, and for all plan members by Jan. 1, 2010

Got questions? Click here for a document that should help. If it doesn't, there's still stime to contact CMS. Click here to submit a question.