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Long-term care hospital services

Medicare Part A (Hospital Insurance) covers care in a long-term hospital

  • Covered by Part A

  • Costs vary depending on your situation

Description

Long-term care hospitals typically provide care to patients with more than one serious medical condition. The patients may improve with time and care, and eventually return home. Long-term care hospitals may offer services like:

  • Respiratory therapy
  • Head trauma treatment
  • Pain management

After being discharged from the long-term care hospital, many people get one of these:

Costs

You pay this for each  benefit period :

  • Days 1-60: $0 after you meet your Part A  deductible $1,676 ($1,736 in 2026).
  • Days 61-90: $419 each day ($434 in 2026).
  • Days 91 and beyond: $838 each day ($868 in 2026) for each  lifetime reserve day  (up to a maximum of 60 reserve days over your lifetime).
  • Each day after you use all your lifetime reserve days: You pay all costs.

You don’t have to pay a deductible for care you get in the long-term care hospital if you were already charged a deductible for care you got in a prior hospitalization within the same benefit period. This is because your benefit period starts on day one of your prior hospital stay, and that stay counts towards your deductible. For example, you won’t have to pay a deductible for your long-term care hospital care if:

  • You’re transferred to a long-term hospital directly from an acute care hospital.
  • You’re admitted to a long-term care hospital within 60 days of being discharged from a hospital.

How often

Original Medicare measures your use of hospital and skilled nursing facility (SNF) services in benefit periods. A benefit period begins the day you’re admitted as an inpatient in a hospital or SNF. The benefit period ends when you haven’t received any inpatient hospital care (or skilled care in a SNF) for 60 days in a row.

If you go into a hospital or SNF after one benefit period has ended, a new one begins. You must pay the inpatient hospital deductible for each benefit period. There’s no limit to the number of benefit periods you can have.
 

Ask your doctor or healthcare provider how much your test, item, or service will cost.

Your doctor may recommend services that Medicare does not cover or offers too frequently. This could end up in additional costs for you. Make sure to ask your doctor about the reasons for these recommendations and what Medicare will actually cover.

Specific amounts you could owe depend on:

  • Other insurance you may have

  • How much your doctor charges

  • If your doctor accepts assignment

  • The type of facility

  • Where you get your test, item, or service

Other related information

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