Post-Hospitalization Skilled Nursing Facility Care: Will Medicare Cover your Stay?

If you are a Medicare beneficiary, Medicare can pay for up to 100 days of care in a Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF) such as a nursing home.  Usually, in order to qualify for Medicare coverage, you must have a qualifying hospital stay of 3 consecutive days or more (often referred to as the “3 midnights rule”) and you must need and receive doctor-ordered skilled care or therapy on a daily basis.  However, being in the hospital for three days does not guarantee that Medicare will pay for SNF care.  The stay must also be classified as an “inpatient” hospitalization.