23 been a hospital inpatient (you were formally admitted to the hospital after your doctor writes an inpatient admission order) for at least 3 days in a row (counting the day you were admitted as an inpatient, but not counting the day of your discharge). • If you don’t have a 3-day inpatient hospital stay and you need care after your discharge from a hospital, ask if you can get care in other settings (like home health care) or if any other programs (like Medicaid or Veterans’ benefits) can cover your SNF care. Always ask your doctor or hospital staff if Medicare will cover your SNF stay. How would hospital observation services affect my SNF coverage? Your doctor may order “observation services” to help decide whether you need to be admitted to a hospital as an inpatient or can be discharged. During the time you’re getting observation services in a hospital, you’re considered an outpatient. This means you can’t count this time towards the 3-day inpatient hospital stay needed for Medicare to cover your SNF stay. For more information about Medicare services visit www.medicare.gov/publications.
20264RD
To see the actual publication please follow the link above