Medicare Part A is hospital insurance. It covers inpatient stays, skilled nursing facility care after a hospital stay, hospice, some home health care, and very limited inpatient mental-health care.
What Part A covers in detail:
- Inpatient hospital stays: semi-private room, meals, general nursing, drugs administered as part of inpatient treatment, and other hospital services and supplies. After the $1,736 deductible (2026), you pay $0 for days 1–60. Days 61–90 cost $434/day. Days 91+ use your 60 lifetime reserve days at $868/day. After lifetime reserves are used, you pay all costs.
- Skilled nursing facility (SNF) care: Up to 100 days per benefit period, IF you had a qualifying inpatient hospital stay of 3+ days first. Days 1–20 are $0. Days 21–100 cost $217/day (2026). After day 100, you pay all costs.
- Home health care: Skilled nursing or therapy on a part-time, intermittent basis when ordered by a doctor. Custodial care (help with bathing, dressing, eating) alone is NOT covered.
- Hospice: End-of-life care for terminally ill members with a prognosis of 6 months or less. Most hospice services are $0 to the member.
- Inpatient mental-health care: Up to 190 days lifetime in a freestanding psychiatric hospital.
What Part A does NOT cover:
- Outpatient care (that's Part B)
- Doctor visits during a hospital stay (Part B covers the doctor's services)
- Long-term custodial nursing home care (Medicaid may cover this if you qualify financially)
- Private nursing
- A private hospital room (unless medically necessary)
- Hospital TV and phone
The benefit period: Part A's deductibles and day counts reset based on benefit periods, NOT calendar years. A benefit period starts the day you're admitted and ends after you've been out of the hospital or SNF for 60 consecutive days. If you're readmitted before then, it's the same benefit period — you don't pay the deductible again. If you're readmitted after 60+ days out, it's a new benefit period and you pay a new deductible.
The 3-day rule for SNF coverage: Medicare Part A only covers SNF care if you had an INPATIENT hospital stay of at least 3 consecutive days (not counting your discharge day). Time spent in the hospital under "observation status" does NOT count toward the 3 days — even if you slept overnight in the hospital. This trips up thousands of seniors annually who think they qualify for SNF coverage but don't.
What you pay for Part A:
- Most people pay $0 monthly premium (if you or your spouse paid Medicare taxes for 10+ years / 40 quarters of work)
- If you have 30–39 quarters: $311/month (2026)
- If you have fewer than 30 quarters: $565/month (2026)
What to do next: Call (866) 534-1886 to confirm what Part A will cover for your specific situation, including benefit period implications and the 3-day rule. Free.