Aging is never easy and many people experience a short hospitalization followed by a longer stay in a skilled nursing facility. Elderly people in Maine and elsewhere have generally understood that their hospitalization will be covered by Medicare and that Medicare can cover skilled nursing care for up to 100 days. After 100 days, continued care is considered “long-term” or “custodial” care which Medicare does not pay for.

Up until the fall of 2012, Medicare had a practice of only paying for a skilled nursing facility so long as the patient continued to make “significant improvement”. If the patient was no longer making significant improvement, Medicare's practice was to stop paying, even if this was well before the 100-day allowance. Last fall, this practice of terminating coverage based on the “substantial improvement” standard ended. Now, the new standard for continued Medicare coverage is whether the patient needs skilled care — even if it would simply maintain the patient's current condition or slow further deterioration. The stated standard is “The skilled services must be reasonable and necessary for the diagnosis or treatment of your condition.” The care must also be ordered by a physician. This is a big and positive change to a long-standing practice. Medicare is now covering some patients that it was not covering just six months ago.

If you or a loved one is denied Medicare coverage for skilled nursing care in Maine, it may be helpful to meet with us. We are Maine elder law attorneys (referred to sometimes as “elder lawyers” or “elder care attorneys”). We would review the situation to determine whether you are entitled to continue coverage and then help you resolve this with Medicare.

The information provided in this post is for educational purposes only. It describes the law in effect at the time the materials were written. This information should not be construed as rendering legal advice or offering an answer to a specific legal problem.