Medicare Part A: Hospital Care and Services

Medicare Part A generally covers inpatient medical services. This includes stays in a hospital or nursing facility. It also pays for some home care and hospice.

Medicare Parts A and B are sometimes called "Original Medicare." Original Medicare allows you to go to any doctor or hospital that accepts Medicare.

The Social Security Administration handles Medicare enrollment. You are automatically enrolled in Medicare Part A and Part B if you're 65 and receive Social Security checks. Typically, you'll get your Medicare card three months before your 65th birthday. Even if you have private health insurance through your employer, it likely makes sense to sign up for Medicare Part A because it will provide you with additional coverage at no extra cost. However, you may wish to delay signing up for Part B coverage -- for which there is a monthly premium -- if your employer insurance provides adequate coverage for outpatient medical services. If you do not have employer health insurance and you delay signing up for Medicare, you will have to pay a lifetime late enrollment penalty when you do enroll. If your employer coverage ends, you have 8 months to sign up for Part B to avoid paying a higher premium.

If you have a disability, Lou Gehrig's disease (ALS), or kidney failure, you may get Medicare even when you're younger than 65. And if you are 65 or older but don't get Social Security payments, you can still enroll in Medicare. Call Social Security at 800-772-1213, visit the web site, or apply at your local Social Security office.

The vast majority of people over 65 get Medicare Part A for free. But if neither you nor your spouse worked and paid Medicare taxes for 10 years, you will have to pay an additional monthly fee depending on how long you worked. If you enroll late, you will be penalized by paying a higher monthly amount.

Medicare Part A pays some of the charges for:

• Hospital stays.The amount covered depends on how long you're in the hospital. In 2021, for the first 60 days, you pay a deductible of $1,484 for each benefit period and Medicare pays the rest. After that, the longer you stay, the more you pay. You pay $371 per day for days 61 through 90. Original Medicare covers up to 90 days in a hospital per benefit period and offers an additional 60 days of coverage with a high coinsurance. These 60 reserve days are available to you only once during your lifetime. However, you can apply the days toward different hospital stays. For days 91 and beyond in the hospital, you will pay $742 per each “lifetime reserve day” until the 60 days over your lifetime. Then, you pay all the costs.
• Skilled nursing facility care.This is to allow you to recover and rehabilitate after a stay in the hospital; Medicare does not pay for long stays in a nursing facility. Medicare will cover the cost of skilled nursing care for a maximum of 100 days. Medicare pays in full for the first 20 days. From the 21st to 100th day, you pay a co-pay of $185.50 per day in 2021. After that, you pay all the costs of your stay in a skilled nursing facility.
• Home health care. If you are recovering from an illness or injury -- and your doctor says you need short-term skilled care -- Medicare Part A pays for nurses and some therapists to provide services in your home. As long as the treatment is Medicare-approved and the provider is certified by Medicare, you pay nothing -- except for 20% of the Medicare-approved amount for some medical equipment, such as wheelchairs and walkers.
• Hospice care. This covers some care for people who are terminally ill. Medicare Part A covers most drug costs, as well as medical and support services. Hospice care is usually given at home or in the facility where you live. But Medicare also covers most of the charges for short stretches in a hospice facility to manage pain and other symptoms -- and to give the regular caregiver a break. There may be a small co-pay per prescription for outpatient drugs for pain and symptom management, and you pay 5% of the approved Medicare amount for inpatient respite care services.
• blood' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' >Blood transfusions. After you pay for the first three pints, Medicare Part A pays 80% of any additional blood you need in the hospital. In most cases, the hospital gets blood from a blood bank at no charge, and you won’t have to pay for it or replace it. If the hospital has to buy blood for you, you must either pay the hospital costs for the first three units of blood you get in a calendar year or have the blood donated.

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