For Patients | Message from Medicare

Your Rights as a Hospital Patient

• You have the right to receive necessary hospital services covered by Medicare, or covered by your Medicare Health Plan ("your Plan") if you are a Plan enrollee.
• You have the right to know about any decisions that the hospital, your doctor, your Plan, or anyone else makes about your hospital stay and who will pay for it.
• Your doctor, your Plan, or the hospital should arrange for services you will need after you leave the hospital. Medicare or your Plan may cover some care in your home (home health care) and other kinds of care, if ordered by your doctor or by your Plan. You have a right to know about these services, who will pay for them, and where you can get them. If you have any questions, talk to your doctor or Plan, or talk to other hospital personnel.

Your Hospital Discharge & Medicare Appeal Rights

Date of Discharge: When your doctor or Plan determines that you can be discharged from the hospital, you will be advised of your planned date of discharge. You may appeal if you think that you are being asked to leave the hospital too soon. If you stay in the hospital after your planned date of discharge, it is likely that your charges for additional days in the hospital will not be covered by Medicare or your Plan.

Your Right to an Immediate Appeal without Financial Risk: When you are advised of your planned date of discharge, if you think you are being asked to leave the hospital too soon, you have the right to appeal to your Quality Improvement Organization (also known as a QIO). The QIO is authorized by Medicare to provide a second opinion about your readiness to leave.

Other Appeal Rights: If you miss the deadline for filing an immediate appeal, you may still request a review by the QIO (or by your Plan, if you are a Plan enrollee) before you leave the hospital. However, you will have to pay for the costs of your additional days in the hospital if the QIO (or your Plan) denies your appeal. You may file for this review at the address or telephone number of the QIO (or of your Plan). OMB Approval No. 0938-0692. Form No. CMS-R-193 (January 2003)

You may call Medicare toll-free, 24 hours a day, at 1.800.MEDICARE, or TTY / TTD: 1.877.486.2048, for more information on asking your QIO for a second opinion.

If you appeal to the QIO by noon of the day after you receive a non-coverage notice, you are not responsible for paying for the days you stay in the hospital during the QIO review, even if the QIO disagrees with you. The QIO will decide within one day after it receives the necessary information.