A lot of people don’t realize that Medicare offers only limited coverage when it comes to nursing home stays, and in most cases there is no coverage at all unless the patient was admitted to the hospital for at least three days prior to being admitted to a nursing facility. What this means is that a number of seniors must pay out of pocket if they must enter a nursing home in order to receive rehab services.
Due to certain Medicare rules, many people are being placed in a hospital setting not as an admitted patient but for observation. For Medicare purposes this classification is significant because what it means is that if they must enter a nursing home after their hospital stay, their stay will not qualify for coverage by Medicare. In addition to this, Medicare will only cover a stay in a nursing home for up to 100 days.
The Medicare maze can be confusing which is why it is so important to be prepared if something should happen that requires that you receive some type of long term care. A very large percentage of people over the age of 60 will need long term care services at some point in their lives. What this means is that your chances of needing long term care as you age are probably very significant, and if you have no plan to help you pay for that care the cost could be devastating.
These days it is common for people to purchase supplemental health insurance to supplement what Medicare does not cover, but these policies may not cover the cost of a stay in a nursing home. The type of insurance policy that will cover services provided in a long-term care facility is a long-term care policy. With long term care insurance you can get all or a portion of the cost paid for, but this insurance must be purchased while you are still relatively young and healthy.
When you are planning for retirement, you may want to think of including a long-term care insurance policy in that plan. With this insurance you can rest easy knowing that if long-term care is needed in the future, the cost will be covered.
Larry Parman
Founding Attorney
Since founding Parman & Easterday in 1985, Larry has led over 1,000 free, community-service education programs and helped more than 10,000 Oklahoma families go from putting off their estate plan to getting it done. His goal for every client is the same: to become the person their family calls "the one who took care of everything."
Larry is the author of three books: The Straight Shooter's Guide to Estate Planning; Estate Planning Basics; and Guiding Those Left Behind in Oklahoma. He served as Oklahoma's Secretary of State and Secretary of Commerce, and his firm is the only member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys in the state.
- Pro Tip: Plan Your Estate While You Still Can - October 15, 2026
- Can You Use AI to Plan Your Estate? - October 13, 2026
- Choosing the Right Successor Trustee: Key Considerations - October 8, 2026
