Health · Chapter 17 · Parts A & B
Medicare Part A: Hospital Insurance
Definition
Premium-free for the fully insured (40 quarters of FICA). Covers inpatient hospital (semi-private room, meals, nursing, drugs, OR — not physicians' fees), skilled nursing, home health, hospice (terminal, ≤6-month prognosis; two 90-day periods then 60-day renewals), and inpatient psychiatric care (190-day lifetime max). Benefits run per benefit period: admission until 60 days after discharge — readmit within 60 days = same period; after = new period, new deductible.
In plain English
The hospital building and everything in it — except the doctors, who bill under Part B.
Easy to confuse with
These are what this term gets tested against — if you can't tell them apart cold, drill the contrast.
Related terms