Your "Welcome to Medicare" Exam

Once you sign up for Medicare, everyone receives a free medical exam. It's called your Welcome to Medicare exam or visit.

The primary purpose of this visit is to give your Medicare doctor insight into your current health and to establish a baseline for future care.

Here are some key things to know about this particular doctor visit:

• This visit must take place in the first 12 months of signing up for Part B.
• This visit is free (100% covered) if the provider (doctor) accepts Medicare patients.
• This visit is optional, not required.

Here are some things to expect during the exam. The doctor will:

• Evaluate your medical history
• Check blood pressure
• Record height and weight
• Discuss current conditions and prescriptions
• Create a preventative screenings calendar

The doctor will want to know if you are up to date on health screenings such as mammograms, colonoscopies, prostate exams, and others.

This visit is NOT an in-depth, comprehensive, full-body work-up physical that includes a body scan, stress test, heart scan,  or nutrition coaching. This is a rather simple in-office physical to get you started.

Note: If the doctor orders tests as a result of the exam that do not fall within the guidelines for this initial visit, you will be subject to standard Part B deductibles and copays for that additional work.

After you've had your Welcome to Medicare Visit, you are entitled to an annual wellness visit with your primary care physician.

Here is the really important part. When you make this appointment with your doctor, you need to state: “I would like to schedule my Welcome to Medicare visit” OR “I would like to schedule my Annual Wellness visit”. This will help make sure you do not have any billing issues or claim denials.

If your Welcome to Medicare visit is your first visit with that doctor, remember to bring any copies of medical records you have, copies of your immunization history ,and a list of your medications, including vitamins and supplements you take.