You must pay the hospital deductible for inpatients for each benefit period. There's no limit to the number of benefit periods you can have. Original Medicare measures your use of the services of a hospital and a skilled nursing facility (SNF) during benefit periods. The benefit period begins the day you are admitted as an inpatient to a hospital or SNF.
The benefit period ends when you haven't received any type of inpatient hospital care (or specialized care in an SNF) for 60 straight days. If you enter a hospital or an SNF after a benefit period has ended, a new one begins. There's no limit to the number of benefit periods you can have in a year. This means you can pay your deductible more than once a year. Medicare covers the first 60 days of hospitalization after a person has paid their deductible.
The exact amount of coverage Medicare provides depends on how long a person stays in the hospital or other eligible health facility...
