Lifetime reserve days

What it means

Beyond the 90 regular hospital days in a benefit period, Medicare gives each beneficiary a non-renewable reserve of 60 days.

They are drawn on automatically once the regular days are exhausted, unless the beneficiary elects not to use them.

They carry a daily coinsurance, and unlike the regular days they do not renew with a new benefit period.

Why it matters

They are the only part of the hospital benefit that is spent permanently, so using them is a decision rather than an event.

A long stay early in life reduces what is available for a long stay later.

When you are likely to meet it

• When a hospital stay passes 90 days in one benefit period.
• When a billing office mentions reserve days on a statement.

Related terms

• Benefit periodThe unit Medicare counts hospital and rehabilitation days in — and it is not a calendar year.
• MedicareThe federal health insurance program for people aged sixty-five and over, and for some younger people with disabilities. It does not pay for long-term care.
• MedigapA private policy that pays some of what Original Medicare leaves the patient to pay. It cannot be combined with a Medicare Advantage plan.
• Qualifying hospital stayThe three consecutive inpatient days Medicare requires before it will pay for rehabilitation in a nursing facility.
• Skilled nursing facilityA facility providing nursing and rehabilitation care that has to be delivered by licensed clinical staff — not the same thing as a nursing home in the everyday sense.

Official sources

The authority this page describes, at the agency that publishes it. Sahvelo does not restate a rule from a secondary source.

• Medicare — inpatient hospital care (opens in a new tab)

Sahvelo guidance that uses this

• Rehab and skilled nursing