Medicare Lifetime Reserve 2023

Hey, did you know that Original Medicare covers up to 90 days of inpatient hospital care per benefit period? But that’s not all, you also have an extra 60 days called lifetime reserve days. These days can only be used once and you’ll have to pay a coinsurance fee for each one. It’s like an extra insurance plan just in case you need it.

Let me give you an example, let’s say you’re in the hospital for 120 days, you’ll use 30 of your lifetime reserve days. Once you’re out of the hospital for 60 days in a row, you’ll be eligible for another 90 days of hospital coverage. But, if you need more than 90 days of hospital care during that time, you’ll only have 30 of your lifetime reserve days left.

It’s good to know that you can use your lifetime reserve days at different times, let’s say you need to stay in the hospital twice for 120 days each time, you can use 30 of your lifetime reserve days each time.

But, if you’re in the hospital for more than 90 days, the hospital will start using up your lifetime reserve days. You can let the hospital know if you don’t want to use them, but be aware that you’ll have to pay for the full cost of your care for those days.

Remember, you can always save your lifetime reserve days for a more expensive hospital stay in the future. Medigap policies A through L pay for your hospital coinsurance and provide up to an additional 365 lifetime reserve days. And plans B through J will pay your full hospital deductible.”