Medicare is the federal health insurance program for people who are 65 or older and certain younger people with disabilities or specific diseases. Payments by Medicare for nursing home care, if any, are only provided on a limited basis, and not for long-term needs.

There are many limitations. For example, Medicare requires a qualifying in-patient hospital stay within 30 days of your nursing home admission. In addition, Medicare requires that the patient is receiving daily skilled care in the nursing home.  Otherwise, you get no payment from Medicare.

Most people residing in nursing homes are not receiving what Medicare considers to be skilled care. (“skilled care” is care which involves skilled nursing or rehabilitative personnel such as registered nurses, LPNs, or physical therapists).  Because of these restrictions, most people who enter a nursing home don’t get any Medicare coverage at all.

And even if you do qualify for Medicare, it will only pay for a limited period.  As long as you meet the prior hospitalization and skilled care requirements, Medicare will pay in full for the first twenty days.  After that, if you continue to meet the skilled care requirement, you must pay the first $170.50 a day [in 2019] and Medicare will pay the rest of the daily bill.  (Many people have Medicare Supplement or Managed Care coverage that will pay the initial $170.50 for them).

It turns out that Medicaid (not Medicare) is the program that covers most (62%) of nursing home residents. Consult with an experienced elder law attorney to learn how you can qualify for Medicaid payment of nursing home or home care costs.

Click here for information from Medicare.gov on the limitations of Medicare coverage of nursing home costs.