What You Need to Know About Your Medicare Coverage for Wellness Visits
Healthy living is important to everyone, and Medicare provides wellness benefits for those who want a better quality of life. If you are enrolled in Medicare, it’s important to know what is covered so you can take advantage of the opportunities available to improve your health. This post will provide an overview of what you can expect Medicare to cover in terms of wellness visits, transportation services, and fitness programs.
Wellness Visits
There are two types of Preventive Visits: the Welcome to Medicare Preventive Visit and the Annual Wellness Visit. The former is a one-time appointment you can opt to get when you are new to Medicare, and its main goal is to review your medical history in order to help prevent diseases as well as provide you education and counseling. This is covered by Medicare Part B or Medical Insurance once within a year you have acquired Part B.
A separate service from the Welcome to Medicare Preventive Visit, the Annual Wellness Visit (AWV), is a yearly appointment that focuses on building and updating your prevention plan to help prevent diseases based on your current health factors. During this visit, you will be asked by your doctor or health care provider to fill out the “Health Risk Assessment” Questionnaire. A Cognitive Impairment Assessment may also be performed.
If you already have had Medicare Part B for more than a year, you can avail yourself of a Wellness Visit once every year. In addition, the Annual Wellness Visit cannot be availed within the same year as the Welcome to Medicare Preventive Visit.
The Original Medicare may also fully cover your Annual Wellness Visits if your healthcare provider or doctor accepts the agreement to be paid by Medicare.
Wellness Visits
Get Started with Your Medicare Advantage Plan
As for transportation services, Medicare Part B or Medical Insurance can cover ambulance transportation services when you need to be transported to the nearest hospital or skilled nursing facility that can provide you the care that you need, especially when any other vehicle could potentially pose a threat to your health. It can also pay for airplane or helicopter emergency transportation to a health care facility if you need immediate medical services that a ground ambulance can’t provide.
In addition, if a doctor has a written order that you will need to be transported for non-emergency but medically necessary purposes, Medicare may pay for it.
For the Original Medicare (Part A and Part B), Medicare will cover about 80% of the transportation costs. For those with a Medicare Advantage Plan, the transportation services coverage must exceed that of the Original Medicare.
Access to Fitness Centers, Fitness Programs, At-Home Kits
Original Medicare (Parts A and B) does not pay for fitness programs; however, it can cover some fitness-prescribed treatments including physical or occupational therapy and nutritional therapy.
What Medicare may cover, however, are the following:
- Obesity screenings and Behavioral Counseling (considered preventive services covered by Medicare Part B)
- Nutritional Counseling
- Dietary Assessments
There are some Medicare Advantage Plans that may offer wellness benefits related to fitness such as the SilverSneakers and Silver & Fit. These fitness programs are designed for adults over 65 years.
The SilverSneakers program includes access to fitness centers, including pools and walking tracks, as well as fitness classes designed for older adults.
For those interested in additional wellness benefits, it is best to compare Medicare Advantage Plans that can cover beyond what the original Medicare covers.
Medicare can be a confusing topic, but it’s important to understand how your coverage may change as you age. Not all wellness visits, transportation services, and fitness programs are covered by Medicare, and finding out what is or isn’t will save you money in the long run.
To learn more about Medicare services, visit our blog for more information on Medicare policies and coverages so that you know exactly where your benefits stand at any given time. Reach out to our team of experts today!