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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]The term “assisted living” gets thrown around a lot as what be intended as a more pleasant euphemism for nursing home. In fact, they are entirely different things (albeit sometimes found under the same roof), and (as far as I know), actual “assisted living is self (or self-funded insurance) paid. Medicare pays for some skilled nursing under limited and particular circumstances. Medicaid (medical welfare) pays for custodial care and is means-tested to varying degrees.

As to nursing homes (skilled nursing facilities/long term care), the prevailing wisdom, at least once upon a time, was to look for a facility that takes self-pay, Medicare and Medicaid patients, and do everything possible to avoid even the suggestion that the person eventually plans to transition to Medicaid, regardless of the actual plan. [/quote]

No, Medicare pays for short term rehab.  Long term care Medicaid which is different than Medicaid pays for skilled nursing.  In some states they pay for assisted living and other states just nursing home care.  [/quote]

What you nitpickingly refer to as “short term rehab” is in fact required to be skilled care for it to be covered by Medicare. And “short term” is a somewhat relative concept, given the differential levels of Medicare coverage depending on how many facility days the person has used.[/quote]

This PP is correct. Medicare pays for up to 100 days of skilled nursing care or rehabilitation per spell of illness. Skilled nursing care might be IV meds, or special wound care, e.g. Historically, Medicare only paid for for this care after a hospital stay off at least 3 days, but today many Medicare beneficiaries are in Medicare managed care ("Medicare Advantage") or other payment arrangements that allow payment for skilled care/rehab even without a hospital stay (but in Medicare Advantage, the MA plan will set limits on the number of days of care it will pay for).

The confusion arises because most "skilled nursing facilities" care for both short-term Medicare patients who require skilled care or rehabilitation AND long--term Medicaid and private pay patients who are there because they need assistance with activities of daily living (bathing, dressing, eating, transferring from bed to chair, etc).[/quote]

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