Will Medicare help pay for nursing home?
My 72-year-old mother needs constant care, and we have been advised that she should be in a nursing home. Will Medicare help pay for this expense?
answer:
No, Medicare will not meet any expenses of nursing homes giving custodial care—that is. help in getting through the daily routine of bathing, dressing, eating, and moving about. Medicare will only pay for a necessary stay in a government-approved medical unit that may, in fact, be a nursing home. In this case, the Medicare patient must need special post-hospital care in connection with the same condition that caused hospitalization.
For such post-hospital care in a nursing home or like institution, Medicare covers up to 100 days. For the first 20 days, all specified expenses are met by the insurance. For the next 80 days, the patient must pay the first $8.50 of costs.