Psychiatric Inpatient Hospitalization

Medicare covers inpatient psychiatric hospitalization when a patient with a psychiatric disorder requires intensive, multimodal treatment and 24‑hour medical supervision that cannot be safely or effectively provided at a lower level of care. Coverage requires physician certification/recertification, documented active treatment (beyond simple sedation), written informed consent per state law, properly licensed providers delivering the majority of psychotherapy, and medical records that document necessity, supervision, and treatment planning; services that are custodial, recreational, chronic-stability maintenance, or otherwise not medically necessary are excluded.

"Patient requires 24-hour medical supervision and coordination due to a mental disorder and needs intensive, comprehensive, multimodal inpatient psychiatric treatment."

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