The rehab facility says Medicare is cutting off coverage, but my parent isn’t ready to go home. What can we do?

If your parent is in a skilled nursing facility for rehab, ask for the written Notice of Medicare Non-Coverage and check its deadline now. You generally need to request a fast appeal by noon the day before the coverage termination date on that notice. Call the independent reviewer using the number on the notice. If the deadline has passed, call anyway and ask what review options remain.

Explain why your parent still needs skilled nursing or therapy, and ask the treating team for records supporting that need. CMS says coverage does not depend only on whether someone is improving: skilled care to maintain function or slow decline can qualify when the other coverage requirements are met.

Not being ready to manage at home does not, by itself, settle whether Medicare must keep paying. Discuss a safe discharge plan with the facility while the coverage decision is reviewed.

If you request the fast appeal on time and the reviewer upholds termination, your parent is not responsible for SNF services before the termination date on the notice; services after that date may be their responsibility. If the appeal succeeds, coverage may continue with applicable cost sharing. Ask the reviewer how this applies to your parent. Hospital discharge appeals follow different instructions; this answer concerns a skilled nursing facility.