Medicare Part A (hospital insurance) in Arizona

What Part A covers

• Inpatient hospital care: a semi-private room, meals, nursing, drugs you get as part of inpatient treatment, and other hospital services when a doctor formally admits you.
• Skilled nursing facility (SNF) care: short-term skilled nursing or rehabilitation after a qualifying inpatient hospital stay of at least 3 days.
• Hospice: care for people with a terminal illness who choose comfort care instead of treatment to cure the illness.
• Home health care: part-time skilled care at home for people who are homebound, shared with Part B.
• Inpatient care in a religious nonmedical health care institution, and blood you receive as an inpatient.

Part A doesn't cover long-term custodial care, such as help with bathing and dressing in a nursing home or assisted living. In Arizona, people who qualify on income, resources and medical need can get long-term care through AHCCCS's Arizona Long Term Care System (ALTCS). See AHCCCS and Medicare.

Part A premiums

You get Part A with no premium if you or your spouse paid Medicare taxes while working for at least 40 quarters. If not, you can buy it:

If you must buy Part A and don't sign up when you're first eligible, your premium can go up 10%, for twice the number of years you could have had Part A but didn't. If your income and resources are limited, the Qualified Medicare Beneficiary (QMB) program through AHCCCS can pay the Part A premium. See Medicare Savings Programs in Arizona.

What you pay in the hospital in 2026

Part A costs are counted per benefit period, not per calendar year. A benefit period starts when you're admitted as an inpatient and ends after you've gone 60 days in a row without inpatient hospital or skilled nursing care. You can have more than one benefit period in a year, and you pay the deductible for each one.

You have 60 lifetime reserve days in total, over your whole life. Once you use one, you don't get it back.

These are Original Medicare's amounts. A Medigap policy can cover the Part A deductible and coinsurance, depending on the plan letter. Medicare Advantage plans set their own hospital cost sharing instead, within Medicare's rules, and have a yearly out-of-pocket limit.

Hospice

Part A covers hospice if a hospice doctor and your regular doctor certify that you're terminally ill, with a life expectancy of 6 months or less, and you choose comfort care instead of treatment to cure the illness. There's no deductible. You may pay a small copayment for each prescription for pain and symptom control, and 5% of the Medicare-approved amount for inpatient respite care, which gives a family caregiver a short break. Hospice is usually given at home, including in an assisted living facility or nursing home. Even if you have a Medicare Advantage plan, Original Medicare pays for your hospice care.

Part A in Arizona

Rural hospitals and critical access hospitals

Distances to a hospital can be long in much of rural Arizona. To keep care available, Medicare designates some small rural hospitals as critical access hospitals. According to the University of Arizona Center for Rural Health, which runs Arizona's rural hospital flexibility program, 17 rural Arizona hospitals have this federal designation. A critical access hospital has no more than 25 inpatient beds, keeps an average inpatient stay under 96 hours, runs a 24-hour emergency department, and has transfer arrangements with larger hospitals.

For you, Part A works the same way: inpatient care there is covered, and you pay the same Part A deductible and coinsurance. If you need care the local hospital can't provide, you may be stabilized and transferred to a larger hospital, and a new admission there can be part of the same benefit period. Ambulance transport, including air ambulance when medically necessary, falls under Part B.

Observation status and the MOON notice

Staying overnight in a hospital doesn't always mean you're an inpatient. If the hospital keeps you under observation while doctors decide whether to admit you, you're an outpatient. That matters in two ways:

• Your care is billed under Part B (with its 20% coinsurance) instead of Part A, and you may pay separately for routine drugs you take in the hospital.
• Observation days don't count toward the 3-day inpatient stay that Part A requires before it covers skilled nursing facility care.

Hospitals must give you a Medicare Outpatient Observation Notice (MOON) if you've been getting observation services for more than 24 hours. It explains that you're an outpatient and how that affects what you pay. If you or a family member aren't sure of your status, ask the hospital staff directly: "Am I an inpatient or an outpatient?"

If a hospital says you're ready to leave

As an inpatient you'll receive an "Important Message from Medicare" explaining your right to appeal a discharge you think is too soon. In Arizona these appeals go to Medicare's Beneficiary and Family Centered Care Quality Improvement Organization; the notice gives the phone number. See Medicare appeals in Arizona.

Next steps

Part A is only half of Original Medicare; read about Part B next, or see every 2026 amount on Medicare costs in 2026. A licensed insurance agent with Benefits Life can explain how Medigap or Medicare Advantage plans from the companies they work with handle hospital costs, at no cost to you: (602) SENIORS (602-736-4677), TTY 711.

Sources

• Medicare.gov — What Part A covers
• Medicare.gov — Inpatient hospital care
• Medicare.gov — Skilled nursing facility care
• Medicare.gov — Hospice care
• Medicare.gov — Medicare costs
• CMS — 2026 Medicare Parts A & B premiums and deductibles
• CMS — Beneficiary notices initiative (MOON and Important Message from Medicare)
• University of Arizona Center for Rural Health — Arizona Rural Hospital Flexibility Program

Frequently asked questions

Do I have to pay a premium for Part A?

Most people don't. If you or your spouse worked and paid Medicare taxes for at least 40 quarters (about 10 years), Part A has no premium. In 2026 people with 30 to 39 quarters pay $311 a month and people with fewer than 30 pay $565 a month.

What is a benefit period?

A benefit period starts the day you're admitted as an inpatient to a hospital or skilled nursing facility and ends when you've gone 60 days in a row without inpatient hospital or skilled nursing care. If you're admitted again after a benefit period ends, a new one starts and you pay the Part A deductible again. There's no limit on the number of benefit periods.

Does Part A cover a nursing home?

Part A covers short-term skilled nursing facility care after an inpatient hospital stay of at least 3 days, for up to 100 days per benefit period. In 2026 days 1 to 20 cost you nothing and days 21 to 100 cost $217 a day. Part A doesn't cover long-term custodial care; in Arizona, AHCCCS's ALTCS program can help people who qualify.

What is observation status and why does it matter?

If a hospital keeps you under observation, you're an outpatient even if you stay overnight in a hospital bed. Your care is billed under Part B, and observation days don't count toward the 3-day inpatient stay needed for Part A skilled nursing coverage. Hospitals must give you a Medicare Outpatient Observation Notice (MOON) if you get observation services for more than 24 hours.

Does Part A pay for care at a rural critical access hospital?

Yes. Critical access hospitals are Medicare-certified, and Part A covers inpatient care there just as at any other hospital. Arizona has 17 of them, according to the University of Arizona Center for Rural Health.