Medicare Wellness Exams: Your Path to preventative Health at no cost
If you’re a Medicare beneficiary, you have access to valuable preventive care visits designed to keep you healthy and catch potential problems early. Best of all, these wellness exams come at absolutely no cost to you—no copays, no deductibles, no out-of-pocket expenses.
What Are Medicare Wellness Exams?
Medicare offers two types of wellness visits:
Welcome to Medicare Preventive Visit – This is your initial wellness exam, available once within the first 12 months after enrolling in Medicare Part B. It’s your opportunity to establish a baseline of your current health status and create a personalized prevention plan.
Annual Wellness Visit – After your first year with Medicare, you’re eligible for an Annual Wellness Visit every 12 months. This ongoing visit helps track your health over time and update your preventive care plan as your needs change.
The Purpose: Prevention, Not Treatment
These wellness exams are specifically designed for prevention. Think of them as your health roadmap rather than a pit stop for fixing problems. During your visit, we focus on:
- Reviewing your medical and family history to identify potential health risks
- Updating your current medications and supplements to ensure everything works together safely
- Screening for cognitive impairment to catch early signs of memory issues
- Assessing fall risk and discussing safety measures—especially important here on the Big Island where many of us enjoy active, outdoor lifestyles
- Creating a personalized prevention plan with screening schedules tailored to your individual needs
- Discussing advance directives so your healthcare wishes are documented and respected
What Makes These Visits Special
Medicare Wellness exams differ from regular physical exams. We’re not treating acute illnesses or performing comprehensive physical examinations during these visits. Instead, we’re taking a big-picture view of your health, identifying areas where preventive measures can keep you healthier longer.
This proactive approach means we can:
- Catch potential health issues before they become serious problems
- Ensure you’re up to date on important screenings like mammograms, colonoscopies, and cardiovascular assessments
- Help you set realistic health goals and provide resources to achieve them
- Coordinate your care if you’re seeing multiple specialists
Completely Free—No Hidden Costs
Here’s the important part: Medicare covers 100% of these wellness visits when provided by a Medicare-participating provider. You won’t see:
- Copayments
- Coinsurance
- Deductibles
The only requirement is that your provider accepts Medicare assignment. At our practice, we do, which means your wellness visit is completely free to you.
Important note: If we discover a health concern during your wellness visit and need to address or treat it, that additional care may be billed separately as a standard office visit. We’ll always let you know if additional services beyond the wellness exam are needed.
Living Well on the Big Island
Here in Hawaii, we’re blessed with a lifestyle that encourages outdoor activity, fresh local foods, and strong community connections—all ingredients for healthy aging. Your Medicare Wellness exam helps ensure you can continue enjoying everything our island has to offer, from morning walks along the coast to time with your ʻohana.
Schedule Your Visit Today
Taking advantage of your Medicare Wellness exam is one of the smartest healthcare decisions you can make. It’s free, it’s comprehensive, and it puts you in the driver’s seat of your health journey.
Ready to schedule your wellness visit? Contact our office today 808-769-5010
We’re here to help you make the most of your Medicare benefits and support your health for years to come.
Questions about Medicare Wellness exams or what to expect during your visit? Give us a call—we’re happy to help!