Hanger Health Insurance Group
Serving the community in the Greater Metro East Area.
As a Medicare Part A beneficiary, you will receive coverage for hospital expenses that are critical to your inpatient care, such as a semi-private room, meals, nursing services, medications that are part of your inpatient treatment, and any other services and supplies from the hospital. This includes inpatient care that received through:
Please note that Medicare Part A hospital insurance does not cover the costs for a private room (unless medically necessary), private-duty nursing, personal care items like shampoo or razors, or other extraneous charges like telephone and television.
Medicare Part A also does not cover the cost of blood. You do not need to pay anything if the hospital gets it from a blood bank at no charge. If the hospital does need to purchase blood for you, you must pay for only the first three units that you receive each calendar year, unless you have the blood donated by you or someone else.
Medicare Part A benefits for home health care services are covered when deemed medically necessary and ordered by your doctor.
Home health care services may include:
*If your doctor orders durable medical equipment as part of your care and the equipment meets eligibility requirements, this cost is covered separately under Medicare Part B. If you’re eligible for coverage, Medicare typically covers 80% of the Medicare-approved amount for the durable medical equipment.
Medicare Part A does not cover 24-hour home care, meals, or homemaker services if they are unrelated to your treatment. It also does not cover personal care services, such as help with bathing and dressing, if this is the only care that you need.
Medicare Part A covers the entire cost for covered home health care services. As mentioned, if you need durable medical equipment and it’s ordered by your doctor this is covered under Medicare Part B and you are responsible for 20% of the Medicare-approved amount.
The home health care must be provided by a Medicare-certified home health agency, and a doctor must certify that you are home-bound. According to Medicare, you are “homebound” if both of the following are true:
Skilled nursing facility (SNF) stays are covered under Medicare Part A after a qualifying hospital inpatient stay for a related illness or injury. To qualify for SNF care, the hospital stay must be a minimum of three days, beginning on the day you are formally admitted as an inpatient. The day you are discharged does not count towards this minimum three-day requirement. Time spent under observation as an outpatient also does not count towards your qualifying stay.
The skilled nursing care must be provided at a Medicare-certified facility. Medicare-covered skilled nursing care includes, but is not limited to:
Your doctor must certify that you need daily skilled care that you cannot receive at home, such as intravenous drugs or physical therapy. Medicare Part A does not cover long-term care (or personal care, if that is the only care you need).
If your doctor has certified that you have a terminal illness with an estimated six months or less to live, you may be eligible for hospice care coverage. In hospice care, the focus is on palliative care, not curing your disease. The goal is to relieve pain and make the patient as comfortable as possible.
To qualify for Medicare-covered hospice care, you must meet all of the following conditions:
Medicare Part A hospice care is usually received in the patient’s home. It may include, but is not limited to:
If a patient is under hospice care, Medicare Part A may also cover some costs that Medicare normally does not include, such as spiritual and grief counseling. Medicare Part A only pays for room and board in a hospital if the hospice medical team orders short-term inpatient stays for pain or other symptom management.
Although you must give up any curative treatments for your terminal illness to receive Medicare coverage, you have the right to stop hospice care at any time. If you are thinking about going back to curative treatments, talk to your doctor.
In general, you are eligible for Medicare Part A if:
Most beneficiaries do not pay a premium for Medicare Part A if they have worked at least 10 years (or 40 quarters) and paid Medicare taxes during that time. Individuals who aren’t eligible for premium-free Medicare Part A can still enroll in Part A and pay a premium. Beneficiaries who delay enrollment after they first become eligible for Medicare Part A may be subject to a late enrollment penalty once they sign up.
Call Today To Learn If You Qualify For Medicare Part A 618-806-8519
Serving the community in the Greater Metro East Area.
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