Medical Expense✓ Verified · outline & fact-checked · Sep 2026Difficulty 3/5
Which statement correctly describes Medicare Part A coverage for inpatient care in a psychiatric hospital?
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Answer & full 3-part explanation (select an option above, or peek)
Why A is correct
Medicare Part A covers inpatient psychiatric hospital care but imposes a lifetime limit — 190 days — on care furnished in a freestanding psychiatric hospital. Care received in a psychiatric unit of a general hospital is not subject to that lifetime cap. The existence of this lifetime limit is a specific Part A exam point: it is the one Part A hospital benefit with a lifetime ceiling, and the exam expects you to know that the cap applies to the freestanding psychiatric hospital setting.
Why the other options are wrong
- B) A lifetime limit does exist for freestanding psychiatric hospitals, so 'no limit of any kind' is incorrect. The lifetime cap exists specifically for freestanding psychiatric hospitals under Medicare Part A.
- C) Inpatient psychiatric care is a covered Part A benefit; it is simply subject to the lifetime limit in the freestanding setting. Only the freestanding setting carries the lifetime cap.
- D) Inpatient hospital care, including psychiatric, falls under Part A; Part B covers outpatient psychiatric services, not inpatient hospitalization. Part B covers outpatient psychiatric services instead of inpatient hospitalization entirely.
Memory hook
Part A's one lifetime cap: 190 days in a freestanding psychiatric hospital. General-hospital psych units skip the cap.