Medicare has announced the changes to deductible and coinsurances for Medicare Part a. Medicare Part A covers facility type charges such as inpatient hospital stays and skilled care in a skilled nursing facility.
The inpatient hospital deductible will increase to $1,156 in 2012, an increase of $24 from 2011. It important to understand that the Part A deductible is NOT an annual deductible. Medicare uses a period of 60 days to determine patient responsibility; therefore a patient could be responsible for this deductible more than once in a year.
The skilled nursing facility coinsurance also increases in 2012 to $144.50 per day for days 21 – 100; the 2011 amount was $141.50 per day. For days 0 – 20, Medicare pays for services at 100%.
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