What is Medicare and will it pay my long-term care costs?

Medicare is a federal health insurance program for individuals over the age of 65 or for those who are disabled.  Medicare pays only for rehabilitative care; it does not pay for “custodial” nursing home care.

To qualify for Medicare coverage, your nursing home stay must be preceded by a hospital stay of at least three days.  Medicare will pay 100% of the cost for your first 20 days of nursing home care when receiving physical therapy or other rehabilitative treatment.  Medicare will then pay only a portion of the next 80 days of your nursing home care.  After 100 days, all Medicare benefits stop.  Medicare benefits will also stop before the 100-day period elapses if you are not making any progress toward your rehabilitation and recovery.  Medicare is not designed to pay for long-term custodial care, and it will not provide coverage beyond these limits.