Medicare Part A
Learn how inpatient hospital, skilled nursing, hospice, and limited home health coverage work.
Services and admission status
Part A helps cover inpatient hospital, critical-access hospital and skilled nursing facility care, plus hospice and some home health services when conditions are met. An emergency-room visit is not automatically an inpatient admission. Ask whether the hospital formally admitted you as an inpatient, because outpatient observation can have different Part B charges and affect subsequent skilled nursing coverage.
Official source: Medicare: Part A coverage ↗ · Medicare: Inpatient hospital care ↗
The 2026 inpatient benefit period
Original Medicare charges a $1,736 inpatient deductible for each benefit period in 2026. After that deductible, hospital days 1–60 have $0 daily coinsurance, days 61–90 cost $434 per day, and lifetime reserve days after day 90 cost $868 each up to the lifetime allotment. A later admission after a benefit period ends can trigger another deductible within the same calendar year.
Official source: Medicare: 2026 costs ↗ · Medicare: Inpatient hospital care ↗
Skilled nursing is conditional
A skilled nursing facility benefit requires qualifying conditions, including a need for skilled services and, under Original Medicare’s usual rule, a qualifying inpatient hospital stay. Observation days do not count as inpatient days for that rule. For 2026, days 1–20 are $0 per day after any applicable benefit-period deductible, and days 21–100 carry $217 daily coinsurance. Long-term custodial care by itself is not the SNF benefit.
Official source: Medicare: Skilled nursing facility care ↗ · Medicare: 2026 costs ↗
Premium and enrollment
Most beneficiaries pay no monthly Part A premium after sufficient Medicare-tax work history. In 2026 a person who must buy Part A can pay $311 or $565 monthly depending on work history; eligibility and late penalties need confirmation with Social Security. Receiving Social Security benefits may lead to automatic Part A enrollment, while those not automatically enrolled must arrange an application. Verify the effective date rather than assuming it is the birthday.
Official source: Medicare: Current costs ↗ · Medicare: How to sign up ↗ · SSA: Sign up for Medicare ↗
When other coverage exists
If you have active employer coverage, retiree insurance or COBRA, the payer order and Part B timing may matter even if Part A is premium-free. If you fund an HSA, Medicare coverage beginning retroactively can affect contribution eligibility. Confirm the Medicare effective date and current-employment facts before ending or delaying other insurance.
Official source: Medicare: Working past 65 ↗ · Medicare: Who pays first ↗ · SSA: When to sign up ↗