Lifetime Reserve Days (Health Care) Law and Legal Definition
Lifetime reserve days means the 60 non-renewable extra days for which the medicare will pay over and above the 90 covered days of hospitalization during a benefit period. For example, a beneficiary who stays in the hospital for 100 days during a benefit period may elect to use 10 of his/her 60 lifetime reserve days to make the medicare pay for 100 days. Usage of such 10 days will permanently reduce the total reserve days to 50. Upon expiration of the total 60 days a beneficiary will not get any extra days during his/her life time. For each lifetime reserve day, medicare will pay all covered costs except daily coinsurance.
