Skilled Nursing

Medicare covers up to 100 days of skilled nursing per benefit period after a qualifying 3-day hospital stay — fully for the first 20 days, then with a daily copay. Long-term custodial stays are generally not covered.

A semi-private room averages about $7,900 per month nationally; private rooms cost more. Medicaid is the largest payer for long-term nursing home care.

Medicare rates nursing homes 1 to 5 stars on its Care Compare site. We don't repeat those stars here. Each nursing home page shows Medicare's underlying record instead: inspections, staffing and fines, with a link to check it on Medicare.gov.