Quick answer: Medicare Part B covers a range of preventive and screening services, including a one-time “Welcome to Medicare” preventive visit and, later, a yearly Wellness visit. Medicare.gov says the yearly Wellness visit is covered once every 12 months, and you pay nothing for the visit itself if the provider accepts assignment; the Part B deductible and coinsurance do not apply to that visit. You can still owe money for tests or services that are not part of the official preventive benefit, or if the visit turns into a problem-oriented evaluation. Many other Part B preventive services are also covered at no additional cost when official frequency and eligibility rules are met and the provider accepts assignment. Confirm each service on Medicare.gov’s preventive-services lists rather than assuming every test at a checkup is free. This guide belongs in our Medicare guide.
Sources: Medicare.gov “Yearly Wellness visits,” “Preventive and screening services,” and CMS Medicare Wellness Visits materials (Annual Wellness Visit once every 12 months; no Part B deductible, coinsurance or copayment for the visit itself when the provider accepts assignment; additional tests or services may be billed). Medicare.gov Welcome to Medicare / Initial Preventive Physical Examination materials (one-time visit, generally within the first 12 months of Part B). Individual screening frequencies and eligibility are service-specific on Medicare.gov and can change. Checked November 2026. This is general consumer information, not legal, tax, medical or benefits advice. Medicare rules, plan designs and dollar amounts change. Confirm current details on Medicare.gov, with CMS, Social Security, your plan, and a State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP) counselor before you rely on a figure or a deadline.
Welcome to Medicare and the Yearly Wellness Visit
Two official visits get confused because both sound like a physical. They are not the same benefit, and neither is a promise of a free “complete physical” in the way a commercial wellness exam is sometimes marketed.
The Welcome to Medicare visit, officially the Initial Preventive Physical Examination, is a one-time visit. Official materials describe it as available generally during the first 12 months you have Part B. It is a chance to review medical and social history, certain screenings and counseling, and a written plan or checklist of future preventive services. If you are past that first year, you generally cannot go back and use this one-time visit. That is one reason our turning 65 checklist encourages people to calendar preventive benefits, not only plan enrollment.
The yearly Wellness visit, often called the Annual Wellness Visit, is covered by Part B once every 12 months, according to Medicare.gov. It is designed to update your health risk assessment, medical and family history, and a personalized prevention plan, and it can include routine measurements and a review of providers, medications and advance-care planning when appropriate. Official language is clear that you pay nothing for the Wellness visit itself if your provider accepts assignment, and that the Part B deductible and coinsurance do not apply to that visit.
“Accepts assignment” matters. It means the provider agrees to the Medicare-approved amount. If a provider does not accept assignment, official billing rules can leave you with additional charges. Ask the office, before the appointment, whether they accept assignment and whether they are scheduling a Wellness visit, a problem-oriented visit, or both.
The Wellness visit is not billed as a head-to-toe physical with a long list of diagnostic tests. If you want lab work, imaging, or treatment of a new symptom, those services are judged under their own coverage rules. Medicare.gov warns that you may owe costs for additional tests or services done during the visit that are not covered as part of the preventive benefit. A same-day sick visit can also trigger cost-sharing for the problem-oriented portion. That is legal billing when the services are distinct; it is also a common surprise. Ask the scheduler to explain what will be billed if you also want to talk about a new pain, a medication change, or an acute illness.
If you have a Medicare Advantage Plan, the plan must cover Medicare-covered preventive services, but appointment scheduling, networks and any extra wellness perks follow the plan. Confirm in-network providers and whether the plan uses prior authorization for related tests. Do not rely on a $0-premium plan advertisement as a stand-in for the official preventive list.
Screenings, Vaccines and the Charges That Still Appear
Medicare.gov maintains a list of preventive and screening services, each with its own eligibility rules and frequency limits. Examples that often appear on that official list include certain cancer screenings, cardiovascular and diabetes screenings, bone mass measurements, certain vaccines, and counseling services such as alcohol misuse or tobacco cessation when official criteria are met. This article does not reprint the full list or invent a frequency (for example, a colonoscopy interval) because those rules are service-specific and change. Look up each service on Medicare.gov, or ask 1-800-MEDICARE, and take that printout to the appointment.
When a screening is covered as a preventive service and official conditions are met, you often pay nothing if the provider accepts assignment. Two common exceptions still produce bills:
- The test finds a problem and becomes diagnostic, or additional procedures are performed that are not part of the screening benefit.
- The office adds tests that Medicare does not classify as the covered preventive service, or the timing is outside the official frequency window.
Colonoscopy and similar procedures are frequent examples in official consumer questions: a screening can change billing if a polyp is removed or if the test is done for symptoms rather than screening. Confirm current official language for the specific service before you assume a $0 bill.
Vaccines can be covered under Part B or Part D depending on the vaccine and current official rules. Influenza, pneumococcal and certain other vaccines have long had Part B pathways; pharmacy vaccines may involve Part D. Because those assignments have changed for some vaccines in recent years, use the current Medicare.gov vaccine pages rather than a memory of a prior year. If a pharmacy charges you, ask whether the claim should go to Part B or your drug plan.
Dental, vision and hearing services are a special case. Original Medicare generally does not cover routine dental, vision or hearing care, with limited official exceptions, as our dental, vision and hearing article explains. An Advantage plan may offer extra benefits in those areas; those extras have their own networks and caps. A Wellness visit does not turn into a free dental exam.
If cost is a barrier, ask about Medicare Savings Programs and Extra Help, official programs described in our Extra Help and Savings Programs guide. Federally qualified health centers and some public health departments also provide preventive services; ask whether they accept Medicare assignment.
Keep a simple prevention calendar: last Wellness visit date, last screening dates, and the official frequency for each service you use. Twelve months for the Wellness visit is measured on official timing rules, so if you go too early the claim can be denied or billed as a regular visit. When in doubt, the provider’s billing staff can check eligibility, and you can confirm on Medicare.gov or your account.
Parts A, B, C and D basics can help you see why these services sit in Part B (or sometimes Part D), and why hospital Part A is a different benefit. Preventive coverage is one of the more consumer-friendly parts of Part B, and it still rewards careful scheduling and honest questions about what will be billed.
If a preventive claim is denied, use the official appeals process described on the Medicare Summary Notice or the plan’s denial letter. A denial is sometimes a timing error or a wrong code, which is fixable; sometimes the service simply does not meet official criteria. Either way, the notice, not a hallway comment, is the document to work from.
How to Schedule, What to Tell the Office, and How to Read the Bill
When you book a Wellness visit, say the words “Medicare Annual Wellness Visit” (or “Welcome to Medicare visit” if you are in that first year of Part B) and ask the office to confirm that this is the official preventive visit, not a comprehensive physical billed as a regular evaluation. Ask whether the provider accepts assignment, whether any labs will be ordered, and how a same-day discussion of a new symptom would be billed. Those three questions prevent most of the ugly surprises described earlier.
Bring a medication list, a list of your other providers, and dates of recent screenings. The official Wellness visit is built around a prevention plan, so that information is part of the visit, not extra homework. If you have advance-care planning documents, bring those too, and ask whether a separate official advance-care-planning service will be billed.
After the visit, read the Medicare Summary Notice or the Advantage Explanation of Benefits line by line. A $0 Wellness visit plus a billed evaluation-and-management code on the same day is a signal to call the office and ask what was documented as a problem-oriented service. Sometimes the billing is correct because you asked for treatment of a new issue; sometimes a coding error can be corrected. Official appeal rights remain if you disagree after that conversation.
Screening appointments should be booked against the official frequency on Medicare.gov, not against a general “I am due for everything this spring” habit. Going too early can turn a preventive claim into a denied or non-preventive claim. Going too late is a health issue, not a billing one, and is worth avoiding with a simple calendar. If a facility wants to add packages of tests that are not on the official list, ask which items Medicare is expected to cover as preventive services and which you would pay for.
People in a Medicare Advantage Plan should also confirm that the clinic is in network and that any related lab or imaging site is in network. A covered preventive service can still produce a bill if an out-of-network lab runs the sample. The plan’s customer service line and the official directory should agree; if they do not, get the plan’s answer in writing before the blood draw.
SHIP counselors can help you print the official preventive list for a visit, which is a useful piece of paper to hand a new office. 1-800-MEDICARE can also confirm whether a Welcome to Medicare visit is still available based on your Part B start date.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the Annual Wellness Visit a free yearly physical?
It is a covered yearly Wellness visit with a defined official purpose, not a guarantee that every test you might associate with a “complete physical” is included at $0. Medicare.gov says you pay nothing for the visit itself if the provider accepts assignment, but additional services may be billed.
How often can I get a Wellness visit?
Medicare.gov says once every 12 months.
What is the Welcome to Medicare visit?
A one-time official preventive visit generally available in the first 12 months you have Part B. It is separate from the later yearly Wellness visit.
Why did I get a bill after a "free" checkup?
Common official reasons include a same-day problem-oriented visit, tests that are not part of the preventive benefit, a provider who does not accept assignment, or a screening that became diagnostic. Ask the office for the billing codes and compare them with Medicare.gov.
Do I still pay the Part B deductible for a Wellness visit?
Medicare.gov says the Part B deductible, coinsurance and copayment do not apply to the Wellness visit itself when the provider accepts assignment.
Does a Medicare Advantage Plan cover these preventive services?
Advantage plans must cover Medicare-covered preventive services. You still need to use plan rules, including networks, and confirm any extra non-Medicare wellness perks in the plan documents.
