Medicare Annual Wellness Visits: Keeping You Healthy
Some of the biggest benefits of aging are more time to spend with family and friends and doing your favorite hobbies. One of the best ways to make sure you stay healthy and can enjoy your life for many years to come is by getting your Medicare annual wellness visits.
These annual visits with your primary care provider are an important part of preventive health. Studies show that annual wellness visits can help you live longer and stay healthier. But while these visits are offered every year at no cost to you, only about half of all Americans are getting their annual wellness visits.
What Is an Annual Wellness Visit?
The Medicare annual wellness visit is all about you—making sure you’re doing all you can to keep yourself healthy and catching small health issues before they can get bigger and more serious.
At this visit with your primary care provider, you will create or update your personalized prevention plan based on your current health and risk factors.
Plus, your healthcare provider will:
- Take your vital signs, including your height and weight. A head-to-toe physical exam isn’t required at this visit.
- Review your personal and family medical history, including your surgical history, medications, and allergies.
- Look at your risk factors and make recommendations for anxiety and depression, fall prevention, hearing impairment, and pain.
- Share recommended health screenings based on your age.
- Order laboratory and diagnostic testing based on your age and risk factors.
How Is It Different from Other Office Visits?
Annual wellness visits are all about wellness, lifestyle, and prevention. Most insurance plans don’t cover discussions of new problems, detailed review and follow-up of chronic health conditions, or refilling of medications associated with chronic health conditions.
Yet, at this visit your primary care provider will make recommendations and referrals for any additional follow-up visits you may want to make.
Who Pays for Your Annual Wellness Visit?
Medicare will pay for the annual wellness visit, so you will have no out-of-pocket expenses or co-pays. You are eligible 365 days +1 day from your last annual wellness visit. If you are not enrolled in Medicare, check with your insurance for the copay amount.
Any new medical issues and/or complaints are not part of this appointment and will be done at a separate visit. If additional health issues are discussed at your annual wellness visit, these services will need to be billed separately, either requiring an additional copay or fees applied toward your deductible.
What to Bring to Your Annual Wellness Visit
For your annual wellness visit, you want to bring:
- A list of the providers on your health care team, including any specialists you see.
- The name of your home health agency, if you have one, and medical equipment supply companies (for example: an oxygen supplier).
- The names and locations of the pharmacies you use.
- A bag with all the medications you are taking, including over-the-counter drugs, vitamins, and supplements.
It’s also important to arrive 15 minutes before to your appointment to complete medical forms.
How to Schedule Your Annual Wellness Visit
You can schedule an annual wellness visit with your primary care provider by going to your Innovista Medical Center patient portal or by calling 866-325-0301.
If you don’t yet have a primary care provider, just visit the Innovista Medical Center provider directory where you can search by name, city, or zip code. Innovista accepts Medicare, as well as all Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas plans.
We look forward to working with you and making a plan to help you stay well
