Medicare Part A coverage may include inpatient hospital, skilled nursing facility, hospice, and eligible home health care. This type of Medicare health insurance is also known as Medicare hospital insurance.

Part A-covered hospital services generally include medically necessary services and equipment to treat your condition. This may include a semi-private room, general nursing services, and prescription drugs needed as part of your inpatient treatment.

You may be surprised to hear that Medicare Part A coverage doesn’t include long-term care, or the type of care you’d normally get in a nursing home or other long-term facility. Part A only covers limited skilled nursing facility care where personal care (i.e. help with daily tasks like bathing and eating) isn’t the only type of care you need.

Part A covers hospice care if your doctor determines that you’re terminally ill and have six months or less to live. Medicare Part A coverage of hospice services includes doctor and nursing services, hospice aide services, physical and occupational therapy services, prescription drugs for symptom control, and limited, short-term respite care for caregivers.

Medicare Part A coverage may also cover certain home health services, including physical therapy, speech-language pathology, occupational therapy, and/or speech therapy services.

Most people are automatically enrolled in premium-free Part A at age 65 if they’ve worked at least 10 years (40 quarters) under Medicare-covered employment and paid Medicare taxes while working, but you may also manually sign up for it and pay a monthly premium for it if you haven’t worked long enough to get Part A for free. If your spouse qualifies for Part A without a premium, you may be eligible to get premium-free Part A based on his or her work history.

Your Medicare Part A coverage may also come with other costs, including deductibles, coinsurance, and/or copayments.