Medicare's skilled nursing facility benefit covers short-term rehabilitation after a qualifying inpatient hospital admission, for a limited period, while skilled care is needed daily. It does not pay for long-term custodial nursing care, which is a different population living under the same Wisconsin DHS 132 nursing home license.
What Medicare's benefit actually requires
The stay must follow a qualifying inpatient hospital admission -- time spent under observation status does not count, even if your parent slept in a hospital bed for two nights. Ask the hospital directly, in writing, whether your parent was admitted as an inpatient.
Why the same building houses both populations
Wisconsin licenses nursing homes under a single rule chapter, DHS 132, regardless of whether a resident is there for a few weeks of rehab or a long-term stay. The clinical staff, physical space and license are the same; what differs is the care plan, the payer, and the expected length of stay. Ask directly which population your parent will be admitted alongside, since therapy intensity and discharge planning differ between the two.
