Long-term care hospital services

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

Your costs in Original Medicare

You pay this for each benefit period :

• Days 1-60: $1,632 deductible.*
• Days 61-90: $408 each day.
• Days 91 and beyond: $816 each day while using your 60 “ lifetime reserve days. ”
• Each day after you use all of your lifetime reserve days: 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 there directly from an acute care hospital
• You’re admitted to a long-term care hospital within 60 days of being discharged from a hospital

What it is

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

Things to know

Note

During the COVID-19 pandemic, long-term acute care hospitals can now accept any acute care hospital patients.

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

• Care in a skilled nursing facility
• Custodial care in a long-term care facility

Related resources

• Find hospitals
• Find long-term care hospitals
• Hospital care (inpatient)
• Find out if you’re an inpatient or an outpatient
• Skilled nursing facility coverage
• Your Medicare rights
• Hospital Discharge Planning Checklist
• Medicare & You: Planning for Discharge from a Health Care Setting (video)