How Does Medicare Pay for the 3-Day Hospital Stay Before SNF Care?

The rule, word for word

“In accordance with section 226(c)(1)(B) of the Social Security Act and the implementing regulations at 42 CFR 409.30(a)(2), the hospital discharge must have occurred on or after the first day of the month in which the individual attained age 65 or, effective July 1, 1973, became entitled to health insurance benefits under the disability or chronic renal disease provisions of the law. The 3 consecutive calendar day stay requirement can be met by stays totaling 3 consecutive days in one or more hospitals. In determining whether the requirement has been met, the day of admission, but not the day of discharge, is counted as a hospital inpatient day. Time spent in observation or in the emergency room prior to (or in lieu of) an inpatient admission to the hospital does not count toward the 3-day qualifying inpatient hospital stay, as a person who appears at a hospital’s emergency room seeking examination or treatment or is placed on observation has not been admitted to the hospital as an inpatient; instead, the person receives outpatient services. For purposes of the SNF benefit’s qualifying hospital stay requirement, inpatient status commences with the calendar day of hospital admission. See 31 Fed. Reg. 10116, 10118-19 (July 27, 1966). To be covered, the extended care services must have been for the treatment of a condition for which the beneficiary was receiving inpatient [...]”

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