The Center for Medicare Advocacy published an article regarding the 3-day inpatient hospital requirement for Medicare Skilled Nursing facility coverage. The article explains the process and makes an appeal to congress asking that this rule should be repealed for multiple reasons including:

1. Medical care has changed in the past 55 years.
2. Traditional Medicare and Medicare Advantage need to be aligned.
3. Observation status in hospitals deprives beneficiaries of Medicare SNF benefits and necessary care.
4. Neither a 2013 regulation (the two-midnight rule) nor a 2015 law (the NOTICE Act) has reduced the problem of observation status.
5. Health equity requires elimination of observation stays.
6. Observation status is a surprise medical bill.

The Advocacy group asks Congress to repeal the 1965 statutory provision that limits Medicare Part A coverage in a SNF to beneficiaries who have been hospitalized as inpatients for at least three consecutive days. It is time to simplify and modernize Medicare and eliminate the 3-day inpatient hospital requirement. Hooray for us and for this advocacy group!

Stay the course, stay well, mask up, get vaccinated, and stay tuned!