Can Medicare Pay For Nursing Homes? 
Medicare can pay for nursing home stays under certain conditions : 1 -RRB- The nursing home stay must be within 30 days of a qualified hospital stay in the hospital of at least days . 2 -RRB- There must be a prescribed medical need for daily skilled nursing or rehabilitative care . 3 -RRB- The facility must be Medicare approved . 4 -RRB- Medicare will only continue as long as the patient is showing improvement . 5 -RRB- The first 20 days are totally covered . Days 21-100 charge a co-payment that was $ 144.50 per day in 2012 . After 100 days , Medicare no longer pays any benefits for nursing home care . 