Annual Wellness Visit
Many people visit their doctor only for annual checkups or when they feel sick. If that’s true for you, you may be missing out on an important chance to partner with your doctor to learn how to live a healthier, happier life. It’s called an Annual Wellness Visit, and if you’re a Medicare member, it’s typically covered under your plan and available at no extra cost. What is an Annual Wellness Visit?
While both are very important, a checkup and a wellness is it aren’t the same.
• A checkup, also called an annual physical, your doctor looks for signs of
major problems and does important routine tests.
• A wellness visit is different. It’s more like a planning session where you and
your doctor can spend time talking about your health and your life.
The goal is to create a plan for your health—to help you avoid or reduce the effects of conditions like diabetes, heart disease and obesity. It may also help educate you on how to reduce dangerous fall hazards and visits to the emergency room. As you work toward achieving good health, it’s important to have both annual physical and wellness visit once per calendar year. Can I get an Annual Wellness Visit?
When you first join Medicare, you can typically have a “Welcome to Medicare”
preventive visit within the first 12 months. After that, you can have one wellness visit per calendar year. There’s no additional cost for this visit.2 If possible, it’s a good idea to schedule your first wellness visit early in the year so you can get started right away on the plan you and your doctor create.
https://assets.humana.com/is/content/humana/Annual%20wellness%20visit%20flyerpdf
My last visit was in June of 2026.