One of the advantages of turning 65—and becoming eligible for Medicare—is that you also are eligible for an annual Medicare wellness exam or visit. This optional, free medical visit differs from an annual physical in that it focuses primarily on preventive care. Reason: Research has shown that it is better and easier to prevent health conditions from developing, or identify them early, than it is to treat them later. Bottom Line Personal asked geriatrician Maureen T. Choman, MD, from University of Nebraska Medical Center, what Medicare wellness exams consist of…
During a Medicare wellness visit, your primary care provider will review the current status of your health and create a personalized plan for maintaining and improving your well-being as you age. Your provider will record your weight and height to screen for obesity and check your blood pressure to screen for hypertension, but a Medicare wellness exam does not include a formal physical exam. Caution: If a physical exam does need to take place or you ask the provider to evaluate a health problem you’re having, such as knee pain, you may be billed for a separate visit.
Your provider will review the preventive health tests and vaccines you’ve had and screen your cognitive health by asking you to remember a series of words and draw a clock face. He/she will ask about your hearing and vision…your emotional health…and any changes you’ve had in your health over the past year. He also will ask whether you’ve fallen recently to assess your risk for falls, which are a leading cause of death for people over age 65 and can be related to cognitive health, medication and alcohol use, and other issues.
A Medicare wellness visit also offers an opportunity to discuss advance-care planning—the type of care you would want if you became unable to speak for yourself, as well as who you would like to make medical decisions for you. If you’ve already created an advance-care plan, be sure to give your provider a copy. Important: You can change your advance-care plan in the future if you want to or if your medical issues change.
A Medicare wellness exam is an excellent way to check in on your overall health and health practices. Medicare introduced these visits in 2011 to shift the focus away from dealing with medical conditions you already have to the prevention of such medical conditions. Despite the fact that primary care providers are well-compensated by Medicare for these visits, many medical practices don’t encourage patients to schedule them and, according to a recent study by Harvard Medical School, only a minority of older adults have had them. Important: If your provider doesn’t reach out to you to have a Medicare wellness visit, you can request one. Also, during the first year you are on Medicare, you can request a “Welcome to Medicare” visit, which is similar in scope.
Once your exam is scheduled, you can prepare for the visit by putting together a record of all the medications and supplements you take and the doses…vaccines you’ve had…cancer screenings you’ve undergone…and any subspecialists you see, such as a cardiologist or eye doctor. At the conclusion of the Medicare wellness visit, your provider may refer you to other providers for further evaluation and recommend that you get certain tests and vaccines.
