Rehabilitation hospitals are specialty hospitals or parts of acute care hospitals that offer intensive  inpatient  rehabilitation therapy . This kind of care is intended for patients  recovering from a serious illness, surgery, or injury and requires a high level of specialized care that generally cannot be provided in another setting. Common conditions which may qualify for care in a rehabilitation hospital include ; stroke spinal cord injury brain injury.  Hip or knee replacement is not covered by Medicare, especially if you  have no other complicating condition. Medicare -covered services offered by rehabilitation hospitals include: Medical care and rehabilitation nursing Physical, occupational, and  speech therapy Social worker assistance Psychological services Orthotic and prosthetic services To qualify for a Medicare-covered stay in a rehabilitation hospital, your doctor must state that this care is  medic...

There are  90 days of  inpatient  hospital care coverage on Original Medicare for each  benefit period , In addition, you also have an additional 60 days of coverag e , called LIFETIME RESERVE DAYS .   These Lifetime Reserved Days  can be used only ONCE, and you will pay a  coinsurance  for each of it. To have a better understanding of it, let’s imagine an individual who had a 120-day  Medicare -covered inpatient stay, this means that they used 30 lifetime reserve days. After they have been out of the hospital for 60 days in a row, they will be eligible for another 90 days of hospital coverage because they will be in a new  benefit period . However, if they need  inpatient care  beyond the benefit period maximum, they will only have 30 of their 60 lifetime reserve days remaining. The above example illustrates that lifetime reserve days do not have to be applied to the same hospital stay. If you need to stay in the hosp...

Equitable relief    It is a process which allows you to request the following from the  Social Security Administration (SSA), either: Immediate or retroactive  Medicare   enrollment Elimination of the Medicare  Part B  late enrollment penalty (LEP) In order for you to be eligible for a request, you must have failed to enroll in Medicare due to the error, misrepresentation, or inaction of a federal employee, such as a Social Security or 1-800-MEDICARE representative . It will  not apply if you were misinformed about your Medicare rights and options by non-federal employees , such as an employer. Example:   Let’s say you did not enroll in Part B because a Social Security representative said you did not need to sign up. Because of misinformation from a federal employee, you failed to sign up for Medicare. Now, you may have  grounds for receiving equitable relief. How to request for an Equitable Relief? To requ...

             In order to qualify for Medicare, children must meet certain relationship requirements with you, their parent or guardian. The child must be related to you by birth or legal adoption. If the child has been your stepchild for one year or more, they may also qualify for coverage. In addition, you have to have received Medicare credits through your work in past years. If your child is over 20 years of age , they must be disable d and have been receiving disability benefits from the social security administration for at least two year s before applying for Medicare. Even if your child has never worked, they can still get Medicare coverage because of their disability. The child must have been disabled before reaching age 22. Adult children who qualif y  for Medicare will remain entitled to benefits as long as they r emain disabled and remain unmarried. Adult children who are disabled but may still be capable of working will g...

Medicare will cover the  lab tests for COVID-19 and you will pay no out-of-pocket costs. Medicare will also cover all  medically necessary hospitalizations . This will include, if you're diagnosed with COVID-19 and might otherwise have been discharged from the hospital after an inpatient stay, but instead, you need to stay in the hospital under quarantine.  If a vaccine for COVID becomes available , it will be covered by all  Medicare Prescription Drug Plans (Part D) . If you have a  Medicare Advantage Plan , you have access to these Medicare covers related needs. Medicare will also allow these plans to waive cost-sharing for COVID-19 lab tests. Medicare is also responsible for developing and enforcing the essential health and safety requirements that health care providers must meet on a daily basis in response to coronavirus. This includes; Taking aggressive actions and exercising regulatory flexibilities to help healthcare ...

Medicare Supplement Plan F is a specific type of Medicare Supplement and is the most comprehensive of the standardized Medicare Supplement plans available in most states.  This Medicare Supplement, also called Medigap insurance may help pay for out-of-pocket costs of Medicare Part A and Part B. These costs can be coinsurance, copayments, or in some cases deductibles. Note: Medicare  Part  A and  Part  B make up the federal government’s Original Medicare program. Medicare Supplement plans are also named with letters but they are not the same thing. In 47 states, there are up to 10 Medicare Supplement plans that are standardized with lettered names and each standardized plan has the same set of basic benefits. This is what Medicare Supplement Plan F may cover: Inpatient hospital costs and coinsurance under Medicare Part A for an additional 365 days after Medicare coverage runs out Coinsurance for skilled nursing care facilities Medi...

Medicare Part B , which includes a variety of outpatient services cover medically necessary clinical diagnostic laboratory tests when a doctor or other practitioner orders them. Medically necessary clinical diagnostic laboratory tests are generally not subject to coinsurance or deductible. It will cover medically necessary imaging tests, such as computed tomography (CT) scans, as needed for treatment purposes for lung infections, however not for screening asymptomatic patients. For those imaging tests paid by Part B, beneficiary coinsurance and deductible would apply. If the Part B deductible ($198 in 2020) applies to the Part B services, beneficiaries must pay all costs - up to the approved amount of Medicare until the beneficiary meets the yearly Part B deductible. Once it is met, Medicare pays its share, and beneficiaries typically pay 20% of the approved amount of the service, except laboratory tests. There’s no yearly limit for what a beneficiary pays out-of-pocket tho...

When you have other insurance aside from Medicare, there are rules on whether who pays first. If you have a Retiree Insurance , Medicare pays first.  If you are 65 years or older and you have a group plan coverage based on your or your's spouse's current employment and the employer has 20 or more employees, your group health plan pays first. If you're under 65, have a disability and a group health plan coverage based on your or your family member's current employment, and the employer has more than 100 or more employees, your group health plan pays first. If you're under 65 and have a disability and the employer has fewer than 100 employees , Medicare pays first.  If you have Medicare because of End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD ) , your group health plan will pay first for the first 30 months after you become eligible to enroll in Medicare. Medicare will then pay after this 30-month period.  If you have Medicaid , Medicaid pays first. ...