Which service is covered under Medicare Part A?
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Answer & full 3-part explanation (select an option above, or peek)
Why A is correct
Medicare Part A covers inpatient hospital care, skilled nursing facility care, home health care, and hospice care. Hospice under Part A is available to beneficiaries certified as terminally ill, meaning a life expectancy of six months or less, and it provides pain management, symptom control, counseling, and support services that shift the goal of care from cure to comfort. Physician office visits are covered under Part B, outpatient prescription drugs under Part D, and routine dental care is generally excluded from Medicare altogether. Knowing which benefits sit in which part of Medicare is a fundamental and frequently tested distinction.
Why the other options are wrong
- B) Physician and outpatient provider services are covered under Medicare Part B, not Part A. Part A is the institutional and facility side of the program.
- C) Outpatient prescription drugs obtained at a pharmacy are a Part D benefit, or in limited cases a Part B benefit when administered by a provider. They are not a Part A service.
- D) Routine dental examinations and cleanings are not covered by Medicare. Dental services are excluded from both Part A and Part B, and Medicare provides no general dental benefit.
Memory hook
Part A = hospital, SNF, home health, hospice. Comfort at the end lives under the same letter.