A long-standing Medicare policy meant to manage rehabilitation services in nursing homes may keep older Americans in hospitals longer than necessary without improving patient health or saving Medicare ...

By Dennis Thompson HealthDay ReporterTUESDAY, Feb. 10, 2026 (HealthDay News) — An outdated Medicare policy is keeping seniors ...

The 3-day hospital stay rule – long opposed by nursing home providers – is linked to longer hospital stays without improving outcomes or reducing costs, ...

Medicare’s three-day rule was introduced 60 years ago to moderate costs of care for hospital patients headed to nursing home care, but the rule now appears to be artificially inflating overall costs, ...

Medicare 3-day rule adds hospital costs without reducing Medicare spending or improving patient outcomes, a Brown University study shows.

Qualifying inpatient stays rose from 60.4% to 62.0%, a 1.13–percentage point absolute increase (95% CI, 0.61-1.66) in stays lasting at least 3 days. Among patients discharged to SNFs, qualifying stays ...

Medicare uses the 2-midnight rule to determine whether to bill a hospital stay under Part A or Part B. This rule has implications for both costs and coverage. Original Medicare consists of Part A ...