The Welcome to Medicare visit is a one-time appointment during your first 12 months of Part B. The yearly Wellness visit is available after you have had Part B for more than 12 months, with separate rules about time between visits. Both focus on prevention rather than a traditional head-to-toe physical.

Welcome to Medicare Preventive Visit

This one-time visit is available during the first 12 months you have Part B. It can include a review of medical and social history, routine measurements, a simple vision test, depression and safety screening, preventive counseling, and a written plan for screenings and vaccines.

Yearly Wellness Visit

The yearly Wellness visit is available after you have had Part B for more than 12 months. You do not need to have completed the Welcome visit first. If you did have it, at least 12 months must pass before the first Wellness visit; simply entering your second year of Part B is not enough.

It includes questions about your health risks and a prevention plan made for you. The provider reviews your health history, medicines, routine measurements, safety, memory and thinking, and which preventive services you may need. You can receive it once every 12 months.

What Do the Visits Cost?

Under Original Medicare, you pay nothing for the covered preventive visit when the provider accepts Medicare’s approved amount as full payment, called accepting assignment, and the Part B deductible does not apply.

However, additional evaluation, tests, treatment, or a routine physical performed during the same appointment may have separate costs. You may owe a deductible and coinsurance, or the full cost if Medicare does not cover the added service. Ask the office to schedule the exact Medicare visit you want and explain any added services before they occur.

If Part B began in January and the Welcome visit occurred late that year, you cannot assume the first Wellness visit is covered the following January. Give the office the actual prior-visit date and ask it to check the next eligible date before scheduling. Bring an updated medication list and questions about which screenings are due.

Medicare policy sources last checked: October 8, 2026.