Your Free Medicare Wellness Visit: Don’t Leave It on the Table

 Medicare gives you a free preventive appointment every year. Most beneficiaries never schedule it.

The Annual Wellness Visit (AWV) is available to every Medicare Part B enrollee once every 12 months. You pay nothing for it — no copay, no deductible, as long as your provider accepts Medicare assignment.

We see this pattern constantly at MediGap Advisors. And the data backs it up: research published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society (JAGS) found that roughly 14% of Medicare beneficiaries are low users of this benefit, having had one or fewer visits over a five-year period. That’s a free appointment — going unused.

The Biggest Misconception: It’s Not a Physical

This is the number one thing that trips people up — and it causes real frustration.

Your Annual Wellness Visit is not a routine physical. It doesn’t typically include lab work, hands-on testing, or a head-to-toe clinical exam. Think of it instead as a health planning session — a dedicated appointment to review where you are, identify your risks, and build a personalized preventive care plan going forward.

Here’s where people get caught off guard: if your doctor shifts the conversation from prevention to treatment — say, you mention a new symptom and they examine it — the visit can shift from preventive to diagnostic. At that point, your normal cost-sharing may apply. To keep it free, keep it focused on prevention.

Important note: Any services performed during the same visit that go beyond the preventive scope — additional tests, treatments, or diagnostic work — may be billed separately and subject to your Part B deductible and coinsurance.

What Your Annual Wellness Visit Actually Covers

Here’s what Medicare includes in your Annual Wellness Visit every year.

Your provider will review your height, weight, blood pressure, and other routine measurements. They’ll screen for hearing impairment and fall risk, assess your ability to manage daily activities, and complete a cognitive assessment to catch early signs of dementia. If cognitive impairment is suspected, Medicare covers a separate, more thorough evaluation.

Medicare has also recently added a standardized physical activity and nutrition assessment to the AWV — a practical addition that gives your provider a fuller picture of your day-to-day health and can be completed every six months.

What to Bring — Your Prep Checklist

The more prepared you are, the more productive this appointment will be.

Bring these with you:

• A complete list of all medications and supplements, including dosages
• Your immunization records
• A written family health history
• A list of all current providers and specialists
• Your personal questions and any health concerns
• Notes on any changes in your mood, memory, or daily function

The Screenings Your Wellness Visit Can Unlock

Your Annual Wellness Visit isn’t just a stand-alone appointment — it’s a gateway to a full suite of Medicare-covered screenings.

Once you’ve had your AWV, Medicare covers a wide range of preventive screenings at no additional cost to you. For colorectal cancer, that includes a multi-target stool DNA test every three years, an annual fecal occult blood test, and a screening colonoscopy every 10 years. 

Women 40 and older are covered for an annual mammogram. Individuals at high risk for osteoporosis can receive a bone mass measurement every 24 months. And depression screening is covered once a year for all beneficiaries.

These screenings exist to catch serious conditions early, when treatment is most effective and least expensive. We’ve seen firsthand how much a timely screening can change a client’s outcome. 

To see the full picture of what’s available to you, review your Medicare-covered benefits on our resource page.

Missing these screenings doesn’t just put your health at risk — it means paying far more to treat something later that could have been caught for free today.

When “Free” Becomes Costly — And How a Medigap Plan Protects You

The Annual Wellness Visit is free. What it finds may not be.

If your bone density scan comes back abnormal, you may need ongoing osteoporosis medication. If your colonoscopy reveals polyps or growths, you could be looking at surgery, pathology, or chemotherapy. None of that is covered under the preventive benefit — and without the right supplemental coverage, those costs fall directly on you.

This is exactly where a Medigap supplement plan earns its keep. A Medigap plan covers the Part B coinsurance, specialist visits, and diagnostic costs that follow from your screening results — so you can act on what your doctor finds without worrying about the bill. All 10 standardized Medigap policy types include this coinsurance coverage, and choosing the right one depends on your specific situation.

The American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) is a helpful general resource for understanding your Medicare rights — but when it comes to finding the Medigap plan that fits your health history, budget, and preferred providers, that’s where MediGap Advisors comes in. 

Let’s explore your Medigap options and let us help you find the right fit.

A well-matched Medigap plan doesn’t just cover gaps — it gives you the confidence to use every benefit Medicare offers without hesitation. That’s the whole point.

The Numbers Make the Case

Early detection isn’t just good medicine — it’s good financial planning.

Research published in the American Journal of Managed Care (AJMC) found that Medicare beneficiaries who completed an Annual Wellness Visit experienced a 5.7% reduction in total adjusted healthcare costs over the following 11 months. That’s a meaningful return on a free appointment.

Schedule your Annual Wellness Visit this month. It costs you nothing, takes about an hour, and could be the single most valuable thing you do for your health — and your wallet — this year.

Schedule Your Free Medicare Coverage Review → MediGapAdvisors.com

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Here’s to your health and wealth,

Wiley P. Long, III
President – MediGap Advisors

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