65 year old male with only medicare part A - hospitalized for 6 days.?

Question

Last week, my dad who is 65 had to be rushed to the hospital for pancreatitis.  He only has Medicare Part A and is considered low income.

During his stay he had the following treatments:
5 hours Emergency Room - Utrasound, CT Scan, pain meds
2 nights private heart monitoring room - around the clock care, pain meds, blood pressure check, IV fluids, antibiotics, insulin shots, no meals
2 nights semi private room - MRI, around the clock care, paint meds, blood pressure check, IV fluids, antibiotics, insulin shots, meals.

We haven't received the bills yet but we were discharged after 6 days.  Due to the swelling, we still need to go in to do an MRI to make sure what is causing the pancreatitis in a few weeks.

My question is, out of this, what is covered in the medicare part A?  After a lot of research, it doesn't look like Medicare part A will cover very much.  We thought "hospital benefits" actually included, any kind of emergency treatment like what my dad got.  We also didn't know what doctors will send you a seperate bill from their office.

Can anyone add to this mess on what we can do?  Should we be expecting a $300,000 + bill in all?  Out of this what will be covered by medicare part A?

**We are in the process of applying for Medical and have recenty had to do a "spend down" to bring our personal property limit to $3000.00 to be elibible.  Does anyone have any other suggestions on what else we can do or show to our social worker to get us approved?

Thanks in advance.

Sweetn · Accepted Answer

1.  Your dad needs to sign up for Medicare part B immediately.  This is done through Social Security.  I don't know if he just didn't want to pay the monthly premium or what but legally, he is not suppose to just have Medicare part A without B.  In additon, the longer he waits to have part B the more of a penalty he will have when he signs up.  
2.  If his income is less than 133% of the poverty level he will be eligble for Medicaid to pay his Medicare part B premium.
3. Personal Property is excuded from Medicaid or any other financal eligibility critera,  everyone is allowed a home to live in and one vehicle.  If he has more than this he will NOT qualify for any assistance or for Medicaid.
4.  You can sign him up for Medicaid your self.  Most states have their Medicaid system online.  Just do a little research on your state's website and it should pop right up.  Just fill out the application and be sure to note on any comment sections about these medical bills, Usually, Medicaid can be retro active a month back to cover these kind of situations.

As far as what Medicare A covers:
- Everything that happened after they told him he was 'Admitted'.  This is the key word, if they told him they were keeping him for 'observation' nothing will be covered.  
-Hospital stay includes the room charge, the meals, the medications, tests and anything he recieved.

Because he did not sign up for Medicare part B, Will not cover:
-Ambulance
-Emergency visit and any treatment he got in the ER.

so you need to do the following:
1. go to the Social Security office and enroll him in Medicare part B immediately
2.  Apply for Medicaid (after enrolling in part B)
3.  Look into extra coverage by joining a Medicare Advantage(no extra cost and administered by an insurance compay like humana, United Health, AARP etc)  or paying for extra coverage under a Medicare Supplement plan.

Thomas · Answer

Sweetn appears to know a lot.  I have only read about it.  But I agree on the legality of it.  It is a choice.  I am interested to know if late enrollment in B covers those bills.  Also I read that A only covers the hospital stay in terms of room and board, not surgery, tests, etc.  Any confirmation on this???

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65 year old male with only medicare part A - hospitalized for 6 days.?

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