Annual Wellness Visit
Free Annual Wellness Visit for Medicare Patients
If you’re enrolled in Medicare, you may be eligible for a free Annual Wellness Visit (AWV) every year to help keep you healthy and to catch serious health issues early. You and your healthcare provider develop and update an annual personalized disease and disability prevention plan that includes:
- Your medical and family history
- Current providers and prescriptions
- Risk factors and treatment options
- Cognitive impairment assessment for dementia and Alzheimer’s disease
- Much more!
Keep in mind that the AWV is not a head-to-toe physical. Also, this service is similar but separate from the one-time Welcome to Medicare preventive visit.
Who is eligible?
Medicare covers an AWV for all beneficiaries who are no longer within 12 months after the eligibility date for their first Medicare Part B benefit period, and who have not had either
an IPPE or AWV within the past 12 months.
Medicare pays for only one first AWV per beneficiary per lifetime and one subsequent AWV per year thereafter.
What is the cost?
Original Medicare cover the Annual Wellness Visit at 100% of the Medicare-approved amount. This means means you pay nothing—no deductibles or coinsurance.
Is the AWV the same as a beneficiary’s yearly physical?
No. The AWV is not a routine physical that some older adults may get periodically from their physician or other qualified non-physician practitioner. Medicare does not cover routine
physical examinations.
Are clinical laboratory tests part of the AWV?
No. The AWV does not include any clinical laboratory tests, but you may make appropriate referrals for such tests as part of the AWV.