You may get drugs under Part A as part of your treatment during a covered inpatient hospital or Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF) stay. Part A payments made to hospitals and SNFs generally cover all drugs you get during an inpatient stay. There are some exceptions.

You may get drugs for symptom control or pain relief while using the Part A hospice benefit. You may be charged up to $5 for each outpatient prescription drug or other similar products for pain relief and symptom control.

Hospices must give virtually all care that terminally ill individuals need. Because hospice care is a Part A benefit, Medicare drug coverage (Part D) doesn’t pay for drugs covered under the Part A per diem payment to the hospice. During hospice care, drug coverage only covers drugs that are unrelated to the hospice diagnosis.

If you don’t have Part A, Part B can pay hospitals and SNFs for certain categories of drugs as a Part B benefit. If you do have Part A, Part B may pay if the Part A benefit for your stay has run out, or if your stay isn’t covered by Part A.

Also, when getting SNF care as a Part A benefit, the SNF’s bundled per diem payment excludes certain costly and intensive chemotherapy drugs. They’re billed separately under Part B.