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Will Medicare Pay for My Flu Shot?

The vaccine is recommended for most people, and especially for older adults

Kimberly Lankford,

Updated September 17, 2025

AARP

Reviewed by

Beth Carter, MPH, Ph.D.

En español

Published September 28, 2022

/ Updated September 17, 2025

pink band aid with admit one written on it

Kyle Hilton

Key takeaways

You get one free flu shot each season, which starts in fall.
September or October is best time to get vaccinated.
Three varieties of high-dose vaccines are available.
You can receive 2 or 3 free innoculations in one sitting.

Yes. Medicare Part B, which covers doctor and outpatient services, pays for one flu shot each flu season, which starts in the fall and continues through winter and early spring.

Considering flu shots as free preventive services, Part B covers the immunization without any deductibles or copayments as long as you use a provider or pharmacy that accepts Medicare assignment. This means the provider or pharmacy has agreed to accept the Medicare-approved payment as full reimbursement for the shot.

If you have coverage through a private Medicare Advantage plan rather than original Medicare, that plan also must pay for one flu shot per season without any deductibles or copayments. Medicare Advantage may require you to use an in-network provider or pharmacy.

When should I get my flu shot?

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that most people 6 months and older get a flu shot each flu season, ideally in September or October, so it can be fully effective when cases begin to rise. The CDC recommends adults 65 years and older get immunized with a high-dose or adjuvanted vaccine. An adjuvant is a vaccine ingredient that helps promote a better immune response.

People 65 and older have a higher risk of serious complications if they get the flu, including bacterial pneumonia, ear infections and sinus infections. The flu can also worsen chronic conditions such as asthma, congestive heart failure or diabetes.

A high-dose or adjuvanted vaccine offers greater protection to older adults, many of whom have weakened immune systems because of age, the CDC says. Older adults’ immune systems build up fewer antibodies in response to standard vaccine doses, and those antibodies stay around for a shorter time compared with younger people.

What types of flu vaccine are available?

While powerful vaccines have been around for a while, they were first officially recommended for people 65 and older in 2022. The three types of high-dose vaccines are:

Adjuvanted flu vaccine (Fluad). This shot consists of virus particles that have been grown in culture and then killed to destroy their disease-producing capacity. It’s known as an inactivated vaccine, unlike live vaccines that use weakened versions of pathogens, such as the vaccine for measles, mumps and rubella.It has the same amount of antigen as the standard shots but contains an adjuvant. The antigen is the part of the vaccine that helps your body build up protection against flu viruses, according to the CDC.
Recombinant flu vaccine (Flublok Trivalent). Approved for people 18 and older and recommended for those 65 and older, this is a recombinant vaccine, which means it’s manufactured by using a small piece of DNA from bacteria or yeast cells.
Fluzone High-Dose flu vaccine. This vaccine, also made from inactivated cultures and approved for people 65 and older, has four times the antigen of standard-dose inactivated flu vaccines.

As with any vaccine, the high-dose and adjuvanted flu vaccines may result in temporary, mild side effects typical of standard-dose seasonal flu shots. Expected side effects can include pain, redness or swelling at the injection site, fatigue, headache and muscle ache. These symptoms typically go away within one to three days.

Keep in mind

You can get your flu shot at the same time as your COVID-19 vaccine and RSV vaccine. The COVID-19 vaccine is covered under Medicare Part B; the RSV vaccine is covered by Part D.

This story, originally published Sept. 28, 2022, was updated with information for the 2025-26 flu season.

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Kimberly Lankford is a contributing writer who covers Medicare and personal finance. She wrote about insurance, Medicare, retirement and taxes for more than 20 years at Kiplinger’s Personal Finance and has written for The Washington Post and Boston Globe. She received the personal finance Best in Business award from the Society of American Business Editors and Writers and the New York State Society of CPAs’ excellence in financial journalism award for her guide to Medicare.

Beth Carter, a senior policy adviser and epidemiologist at AARP's Public Policy Institute, previously worked as a principal investigator on a National Institutes of Health-funded grant at Children’s National Health System and an assistant professor at the Milken Institute School of Public Health at George Washington University. She earned her master's degree in public health and her doctorate in epidemiology from George Washington University.