Inpatient hospital care
Medicare Part A (Hospital Insurance) covers inpatient hospital care if you meet both of these conditions:
- You’re admitted to the hospital as an inpatient after an official doctor’s order, which says you need inpatient hospital care to treat your illness or injury
- The hospital accepts Medicare
Your costs in Original Medicare
In 2024 you pay:
- Days 1–60: (of each benefit period): $0 after you meet your Part A deductible ($1,632) ($1,676 in 2025).
- Days 61–90: (of each benefit period): $408 ($419 in 2025) each day.
- After day 90: (of each benefit period): $816 ($838 in 2025) each day for each lifetime reserve day (up to 60 days over your lifetime).
- After you use all of your lifetime reserve days, you pay all costs.
What it is
Medicare-covered inpatient hospital services include:
- Semi-private rooms
- Meals
- General nursing
- Drugs (including methadone to treat an Opioid Use Disorder)
- Other hospital services and supplies as part of your inpatient treatment
Medicare doesn't cover:
- Private-duty nursing
- A private room (unless medically necessary)
- A television or phone in your room (if there's a separate charge for these items)
- Personal care items (like razors or slipper socks)
Things to know
Part A only pays for up to 190 days of inpatient mental health care in a freestanding psychiatric hospital during your lifetime. The 190-day limit doesn’t apply to care you get in a Medicare-certified, distinct part psychiatric unit within an acute care or critical access hospital.
Inpatient hospital care includes care you get in:
- Acute care hospitals
- Critical access hospitals
- Inpatient rehabilitation facilities
- Inpatient psychiatric facilities
- Long-term care hospitals
It also includes inpatient care you get as part of a qualifying clinical research study.
If you also have Part B, it generally covers 80% of the Medicare-approved amount for doctor’s services you get while you’re in a hospital.