Inpatient hospital care
Medicare Part A (Hospital Insurance) usually covers inpatient hospital care if you’re eligible
Description
Medical care you get when you’re admitted for at least one night in a hospital or other inpatient facility.
Coverage details
Medicare-covered inpatient hospital services include:
- Semi-private rooms
- Meals
- General nursing
- Drugs (including methadone to treat an Opioid Use Disorder)
- Other hospital services and supplies as part of your inpatient treatment
Medicare doesn't cover:
- Private-duty nursing
- A private room (unless medically necessary )
- A television or phone in your room (if there's a separate charge for these items)
- Personal care items (like razors or slipper socks)
Who's eligible
Part A usually covers inpatient hospital care if you’re admitted to the hospital as an inpatient after an official doctor’s order. The order must say you need inpatient hospital care to treat your illness or injury.
Provider requirements
The hospital where you’re admitted must accept Medicare.
Costs
You pay this in each benefit period in 2026:
- Days 1–60: $0 after you meet your Part A deductible ($1,736 in 2026).
- Days 61–90: $434 each day in 2026.
- Days 91 and beyond: $868 each day in 2026 for each lifetime reserve day (up to a maximum 60 reserve days over your lifetime).
- Each day after you use all of your lifetime reserve days: You pay all costs.
Part A only pays for up to 190 days of inpatient mental health care in a freestanding psychiatric hospital during your lifetime. The 190-day limit doesn’t apply to care you get in a Medicare-certified, distinct part psychiatric unit within an acute care or critical access hospital.
If you also have Part B , it generally covers 80% of the Medicare-approved amount for doctors’ services you get while you’re in 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.
Facility
Inpatient hospital care includes care you get in:
- Acute care hospitals
- Critical access hospitals
- Inpatient rehabilitation facilities
- Inpatient psychiatric facilities
- Long-term care hospitals
It also includes inpatient care you get as part of a qualifying clinical research study.
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