What are Medicare lifetime reserve days?

Medicare lifetime reserve days are used if you have an inpatient hospital stay that lasts beyond the 90 days per benefit period covered under Medicare Part A. Medicare recipients have 60 Medicare lifetime reserve days available to them, and they come with a $816 daily co-insurance cost in 2024.

Medicare Part A inpatient hospital insurance covers “hospital services, including semi-private rooms, meals, general nursing, drugs as part of your inpatient treatment, and other hospital services and supplies,” according to Medicare.gov.

Medicare lifetime reserve days require a $816 daily co-insurance payment in 2024. All 10 standardized Medicare Supplement insurance plans will pay for this co-insurance cost. They also will cover hospital health care costs up to an additional 365 days after your Medicare benefits are used up.

Medicare Part A and hospital care

To use a lifetime reserve day, first you must be eligible for inpatient hospital care that is covered by Medicare Part A.

To qualify for inpatient hospital care, your hospital doctor must make an official order stating that “you need 2 or more midnights of medically necessary inpatient hospital care to treat your illness or injury and the hospital formally admits you.” Medicare.gov provides a guide to determine if you are a hospital outpatient or inpatient.

You must use Medicare Part A hospital inpatient services for more than 90 days in a benefit period in order for a Medicare lifetime reserve day to be used.

Inpatient hospital health care costs

The Medicare program will charge you deductibles and co-insurance for Part A inpatient hospital stays and health care costs, including a $816 co-insurance payment per lifetime reserve day in 2024. The table below outlines the 2024 costs associated with inpatient hospital stays.

Medicare Supplement insurance coverage

A Medicare Supplement insurance policy can pay for your Part A daily lifetime reserve day co-insurance. All Medigap plans offer full coverage for the Part A inpatient hospital care co-insurance. If you receive qualifying Part A hospital inpatient care and need to use a lifetime reserve day, your Medigap policy will pay for the daily $816 co-insurance in 2024.

Your Medigap policy also provides additional coverage that can be used if you surpass your Medicare lifetime reserve days. If you use more than the 60-day lifetime limit, your Medigap policy will provide coverage for up to 365 additional lifetime days.