3-day waiver program

A skilled nursing facility (SNF) is a skilled nursing facility, which may be a nursing home facility or dedicated beds in a hospital. Regular Medicare health insurance will only pay for someone to receive care in a SNF if they have previously been hospitalized in a hospital for a minimum of three days within the last 30 days before being admitted to the SNF.
A SNF 3-day waiver allows a Medicare beneficiary (someone who receives Medicare insurance) to go to a SNF without first having a minimum 3-day stay in a hospital, as long as they meet skilled criteria. That is, a person must require medical or rehabilitative services that cannot be provided in their home or other setting.

If you are a Medicare insurance beneficiary who sees an ACO physician, you are likely to be assigned by Medicare to our ACO and would then be able to use this benefit if you need to.

If you are receiving one of our Keystone ACO newsletters, you are currently assigned to our ACO by Medicare. If you are reading this newsletter but you’re unsure if you are a KACO beneficiary, there’s no need to worry. Your doctors and other ACO providers and care coordinators will let you know and work with you to make arrangements for a SNF 3-day waiver admission, should you ever need one.

The ACO can only use the SNF 3-day waiver at facilities that are of high quality, have contracted the ACO and were approved by Medicare to provide care for our Keystone ACO beneficiaries who qualify for it. A list of current SNFs that have a three-star rating or higher in CMS Nursing Home Compare will provided to each beneficiary at the time of need as part of a Medicare-required letter stating your rights as a Medicare insurance recipient.

Individuals cannot sign up to be in an ACO. Doctors, practitioners and healthcare organizations can contract with Medicare to become an ACO, just as Keystone ACO providers have. Patients can assign themselves to a primary care provider by going to medicare.gov, creating an account and assigning themselves to the main doctor they see for primary care (their family doctor). If that doctor/provider is in an ACO, they will be assigned to the ACO their doctor is contracted with.
For additional questions, contact Keystone ACO or call Medicare at 800-MEDICARE (800-633-4227) 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. TTY users can call 877-486-2048.

Allied Services Center City Skilled Nursing Allied: 80 Northampton Street; Wilkes Barre
Allied Services Meade Street Skilled Nursing; 200 South Meade Street; Wilkes Barre
Allied Services Transitional Rehab Unit; 475 Morgan Highway; Scranton
Bethany Village Retirement Center; 5225 Wilson Lane; Mechanicsburg
Bucktail Medical Center; 1001 Pine Street; Renovo
Carbondale Nursing and Rehab; 10 Hart Place; Carbondale
Chapel Pointe at Carlisle; 770 S. Hanover Street; Carlisle
Courtyard Gardens Nursing and Rehab Ctr; 999 West Harrisburg Pike; Middletown
Cumberland Crossings Retirement Community; 1 Longsdorf Way; Carlisle
Elan Skilled Nursing and Rehab; 1101 Vine Street; Scranton
Foxdale Village; 500 E. Marylyn Avenue; State College
Gardens at York Terrace; 2401 West Market Street; Pottsville
Geisinger Jersey Shore Hospital; 1020 Thompson Street; Jersey Shore
Green Ridge Care Center; 2741 Boulevard Avenue; Scranton
Heinz Transitional Rehabilitation Unit; 150 Mundy Street; Wilkes-Barre
Manor at Penn Village; 51 Route 204; Selinsgrove
Masonic Village at Elizabethtown; One Masonic Drive; Elizabethtown
Meadows Nursing and Rehabilitation Center; 4 East Center Street; Dallas
Messiah Lifeways at Messiah Village; 100 Mount Allen Drive; Mechanicsburg
Mid-Valley Healthcare Center; 81 Sturges Road; Peckville
Nottingham Village; 59 Neitz Road Po Box 32; Northumberland
Nursing And Rehabilitation at The Mansion; 1040-52 Market Street; Sunbury
Orwigsburg Nursing and Rehabilitation Center; 1000 Orwigsburg Manor Drive; Orwigsburg
Richfield Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center; Po Box 248 631 Main Street; Richfield
Schuylkill Center; 1000 Schuylkill Manor Road; Pottsville
Scranton Health Care Center; 2933 McCarthy Street; Scranton
Seton Manor Nursing and Rehabilitation Center; 1000 Seton Dr; Orwigsburg
St. Mary's Villa Nursing Home Inc.; 516 St. Mary’s Villa Road; Moscow
Tremont Health & Rehabilitation Center; 44 Donaldson Road; Tremont
Valley View Haven, Inc; 4702 East Main Street; Belleville
Valley View Rehab and Nursing Center; 2140 Warrensville Road; Montoursville
Wayne Memorial Hospital; 601 Park Street; Honesdale
William Penn Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center; 163 Summit Drive; Lewistown
The Williamsport Home; 1900 Ravine Road; Williamsport
Windy Hill Village of Presbyterian Homes; 100 Dogwood Drive; Philipsburg