Medical Expense✓ Verified · outline & fact-checked · Sep 2026Difficulty 2/5
Medicare Part A places a lifetime limitation on coverage for:
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Answer & full 3-part explanation (select an option above, or peek)
Why A is correct
Medicare Part A imposes a lifetime limit on inpatient psychiatric hospital care. Because psychiatric hospitalizations can be long and costly, Medicare covers only a limited number of lifetime days of inpatient psychiatric care. This limit is part of the Part A benefit structure and is a key detail tested on the exam. Other Part A services such as skilled nursing facility care have day-count limits within a benefit period, but psychiatric care carries a lifetime limitation.
Why the other options are wrong
- B) Outpatient prescription drugs are covered under Part D, not Part A, and are not subject to a Part A lifetime psychiatric limit.
- C) Skilled nursing facility care is limited on a per-benefit-period basis, not by a lifetime limit.
- D) Emergency room visits are Part B services and are not subject to the Part A psychiatric lifetime limitation.
Memory hook
One lifetime cap in Part A: inpatient psychiatric care. Every other limit restarts with the benefit period.