It can be hard to predict what the future will hold for us. Taking into consideration what most health insurance plans cover, it is important to plan for how you will recover from an accident, illness, or hospital stay.
Does Medicare pay for nursing home care?
Medicare pays for the first twenty days of skilled nursing care only after an inpatient hospital stay of 3 or more days. 1 Depending which Medicare Supplement plan you have, it could cover up to day 100 then. If you are in the hospital as an outpatient (an “observation” stay) and need to receive skilled nursing services, Medicare will not pay.2
Here is a NBC News report done in January 2014. 3
What does Medicare pay for home health care?
For Medicare to help with home health care, you must be homebound, meaning that leaving the home takes considerable and taxing effort. Medicare does not pay for 24-hour-a-day care at home, meals delivered to your home, or personal care given by a home health aide like bathing, dressing, and using bathroom when this is the only care you need. 4
Regardless of the type of insurance you have, planning ahead for skilled nursing care with home health care can help protect your financial future. This type of planning is commonly done with what is called a Short Term Care plan. These plans are designed to cover costs with home health care, assisted living facility, skilled nursing home stay, and adult day care. Planning can also be done through a Long Term Care plan.
Almost 70% of people over age 65 will need long-term care services at some point.5 There are affordable options that can help you.
Contact Senior Savings Services to learn about the options available to you.
Sources:
1 https://www.medicare.gov/coverage/skilled-nursing-facility-care.html
2 https://www.medicare.gov/what-medicare-covers/part-a/inpatient-or-outpatient.html
3 https://www.nbcnews.com/nightly-news/how-avoid-two-words-cost-thousands-medicare-bills-n38281
4 https://www.medicare.gov/coverage/home-health-services.html
5 https://longtermcare.acl.gov/the-basics/how-much-care-will-you-need.html