What is a Medicare Benefit Period?

Medicare has many terms and definitions that are different than that of definitions and terms outside of Medicare, one being a benefit period.  It is important that you know this definition for when you may have to enter a hospital or skilled nursing facility for important care.  What you need to know is that a Medicare benefit period will begin the day you enter the hospital or skilled nursing facility.

Questions start to come up with Medicare subscribers at this point as they will want to know how this benefit period is handled in the event of the hospital sending you home to soon.  The answer is that a Medicare benefit period doesn’t end until you have been out of the hospital or facility for 60 days in a row.  Once you have gone past the consecutive 60 days and you are admitted another Medicare benefit period will begin.

The significance of the benefit period is that you will pay the inpatient deductible for each benefit period that you use.  There are no limits to the number of benefit periods, but you must be aware of how long you have been out if you have to go back.  The period of 60 days is longer than it seems and should help to curtail the possibility of having to have two separate benefit periods for the same condition.

Entry Filed under: Benefits Explained