Medicare Part A is often called "hospital insurance" because it covers inpatient care: hospital stays, care in a skilled nursing facility after a qualifying hospital stay, hospice care, and some home health services. Most people don't pay a monthly premium for Part A if they or a spouse paid Medicare payroll taxes for enough years while working.
- Covers inpatient hospital stays, including a semi-private room, meals, and nursing care.
- Covers short-term skilled nursing facility stays following a qualifying hospitalization.
- Covers hospice care for people with a terminal diagnosis, and some home health services.
Part A uses its own deductible structure based on "benefit periods" rather than a single annual deductible. A new benefit period, and a new Part A deductible, can start each time you're admitted as an inpatient after being out of the hospital for 60 days in a row.
A common misunderstanding is assuming Part A covers all nursing home care. It only covers skilled nursing care following a qualifying hospital stay, for a limited time, not long-term custodial care, which is a completely different category of coverage.