Medicare covers a limited skilled nursing facility stay after a qualifying inpatient hospital admission, when daily skilled care is medically necessary. It does not cover long-term custodial nursing care, and observation-status stays don't qualify at all.
Inside the discharge window
The short-term rehab benefit is meant to bridge a patient from hospital to home, not to fund an indefinite nursing home stay -- Medicare's coverage is time-limited and requires ongoing skilled care to continue, which is reassessed periodically during the stay. Once a patient's needs shift from active rehabilitation to longer-term custodial care, Medicare coverage generally ends and the family needs a different funding plan, whether that's private pay, long-term-care Medicaid, or a transition home with in-home support. Confirm directly and repeatedly with the facility's business office how many Medicare-covered days remain, rather than assuming coverage continues automatically.
Related questions
- My parent is being discharged from a Fort Worth hospital in 72 hours. What do I do first?
- What's the difference between inpatient admission and observation status for Medicare purposes?
- Which hospitals in the Fort Worth area handle senior discharge planning?
- Can I push back on a hospital discharge date in Fort Worth?
