Some Medicare beneficiaries who visit the hospital are getting surprised by big bills because their stays weren't considered inpatient services.
When an elderly person is ready for the nursing home, some families are entirely understanding, in agreement, and financially able. As a result, the transition happens smoothly. Unfortunately, for a far larger number of families and elderly persons, some trip to the hospital will happen in between and may even immediately precipitate the transition to nursing home care.
If that’s the case, then there are important hospital and Medicare policies of which you should be forewarned. Enter “observation care” which can make for a big bill upfront and even far bigger ones down the line.
According to a recent article in the Wall Street Journal, and their sources at the Medicare Rights Foundation, the number of “observation hours” has been steadily growing for years. Tragically, such observation hours count as “outpatient services,” even if the service lasts for several days (as it sometimes does with the elderly) and Medicare pays for inpatient and outpatients services in entirely different ways.
As you likely know, Medicare Part A pays for inpatient bills, so those are usually taken care of, but Medicare part B is what takes care of outpatient services. And those services can add up to a far greater cost.
It’s often vital to know the distinction between the two types of services from the hospital, and yet it’s also fairly difficult. Medicare advises to simply ask, but then there are certain documents such as the “Important Message from Medicare” which accompanies inpatient care, but not outpatient. Still, the hospital can switch with little to no notice.
It’s actually even more important than the size of the immediate bill. Medicare will only pay for nursing home expenses if the person was admitted inpatient at a hospital for at least three days, excluding the discharge day.
For so many families that’s the sole reason why it takes a hospital visit to arrange for the transition to nursing home care in the first place, but if you are put under observation or other so-called “outpatient” care, and without your notice, it can literally mean thousands of dollars out-of-pocket down the line.
Bottom line: It all hinges on hospital practice and Medicare definitions.
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Reference: The Wall Street Journal (February 5, 2012) “Check Hospital Tab”