Coverage
Medicare Part A in 2024: Costs and Coverage
- January 12, 2024
- Reviewed by John Krahnert
4 things to know about Medicare Part A:
- It is hospital insurance that covers inpatient hospital care and certain home care services.
- It is usually premium free if you or your spouse paid Medicare taxes while working.
- You must have Part A to enroll in Medicare Part B, Part C, or Part D.
- Part A hospital and skilled nursing facility coverage come with deductibles and coinsurance.
Medicare Part A provides hospital insurance coverage. It is one-half of Original Medicare, which consists of Part A and Part B.
Part A is premium free for most people, and you may be automatically enrolled when you turn 65.
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Benefits
Part A is considered hospital insurance. It covers a wide variety of services, including the following:
- Inpatient hospital care
- Hospice care
- Skilled nursing facility care
- Certain limited home health services
Costs
Medicare Part A costs come in the forms of premiums, deductibles, and coinsurance.
Medicare Part A premium
Most people do not have to pay a premium for Medicare Part A coverage. The Part A premium will be free if any of the following applies to you:
- You already get Social Security benefits or benefits from the Railroad Retirement Board (RRB).
- You are eligible for benefits through Social Security or the RRB but have not filed for them.
- You or your spouse had Medicare-covered government employment.
If you do have to pay the Part A premium, it can be up to $505 each month in 2024.
Medicare Part A deductibles and coinsurance
You may need to pay deductibles or copayments to get certain Part A services covered.
Hospital stay deductibles and copayment (2024):
- $1,632 deductible per benefit period
- First 60 days: No copayment
- Days 61-90: $408 copayment per day
- Days 90+: $816 copayment per "lifetime reserve day"
- Days 90+ if you have no reserve days: Medicare covers nothing
Skilled nursing facility stay deductibles and co-payments:
- First 20 days: No copayments
- Days 21-100: $204 co-payments per day
- Days 100+: Medicare covers nothing
About the author
Christian Worstell is a senior Medicare and health insurance writer with MedicareAdvantage.com. He is also a licensed health insurance agent. Christian is well-known in the insurance industry for the thousands of educational articles he’s written, helping Americans better understand their health insurance and Medicare coverage.
Christian’s work as a Medicare expert has appeared in several top-tier and trade news outlets including Forbes, MarketWatch, WebMD and Yahoo! Finance.
Christian has written hundreds of articles for MedicareAvantage.com that teach Medicare beneficiaries the best practices for navigating Medicare. His articles are read by thousands of older Americans each month. By better understanding their health care coverage, readers may hopefully learn how to limit their out-of-pocket Medicare spending and access quality medical care.
Christian’s passion for his role stems from his desire to make a difference in the senior community. He strongly believes that the more beneficiaries know about their Medicare coverage, the better their overall health and wellness is as a result.
A current resident of Raleigh, Christian is a graduate of Shippensburg University with a bachelor’s degree in journalism.
If you’re a member of the media looking to connect with Christian, please don’t hesitate to email our public relations team at Mike@tzhealthmedia.com.
