Free preventive care under Medicare: what you can get at $0
The preventive services Part B covers with no cost sharing, the difference between a wellness visit and a physical, and how to avoid surprise bills.
Part B covers many preventive services with no deductible and no coinsurance, as long as your provider accepts assignment. Most people use only a fraction of them.
Common $0 preventive services
| Service | How often |
|---|---|
| Welcome to Medicare visit | Once, within 12 months of Part B |
| Annual Wellness Visit | Yearly |
| Flu shot | Yearly |
| Screening mammogram | Yearly for women 40+ |
| Colorectal screening | Varies by test |
| Diabetes screening | Up to 2 per year if at risk |
| Cardiovascular blood tests | Every 5 years |
| Lung cancer screening | Yearly if eligible |
The list is longer: depression screening, obesity counselling, hepatitis and HIV screening, bone density tests and more.
Wellness visit vs physical exam
The Annual Wellness Visit is a planning conversation: health risk assessment, medication review, a personalised prevention plan. It is not a head-to-toe physical. Medicare does not cover routine physical exams. If your doctor examines a new problem during the wellness visit, that part can be billed separately with normal cost sharing.
Avoiding surprise bills
- Ask when booking: "Is this my Annual Wellness Visit?"
- If a screening finds something and becomes diagnostic (for example, a polyp removed during a screening colonoscopy), coinsurance may apply, though rules for colonoscopy have been improving.
- Medigap Plan G or N would pay most of any resulting Part B coinsurance; see Plan G vs N.
Questions people ask
Is the Annual Wellness Visit a physical?
No. It is a planning visit; routine physicals are not covered.
Do preventive services cost anything?
Many are $0 if the provider accepts assignment.
Is the flu shot covered?
Yes, once a flu season at no cost.
What if a screening becomes diagnostic?
Cost sharing may apply to the diagnostic part.
Independent educational site. Not affiliated with or endorsed by the U.S. government, the federal Medicare program, or any insurance company. Figures are 2026 amounts published by CMS unless noted; check Medicare.gov for your situation.