Does Medicare Cover Prostate Cancer Screenings?

Yes, one PSA test every 12 months is free. Part B helps pay for other options

Kimberly Lankford,

Updated May 21, 2025

AARP

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En español

Published July 06, 2023

/ Updated May 21, 2025

In this story

Common cancer in men • Free PSA tests yearly • Other prostate screenings • Test advice being reassessed

Yes, Medicare covers a few screenings and tests, including the prostate specific antigen (PSA) blood test, which measures the PSA level in your blood.

PSA is a protein produced by a prostate gland’s cells. Even though the cells can produce normal and malignant proteins, elevated PSA levels don’t necessarily mean cancer is present.

Prostate cancer is the second most common cancer among men in the United States after skin cancer. One in 8 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer during their lifetimes, according to the American Cancer Society.

Most prostate cancers grow so slowly that the men who have them die from causes other than prostate cancer, numerous studies have found. The percentage of men who are alive five years after they were diagnosed with or began treatment for prostate cancer is 97.9 percent compared with the survival rates of other men the same age, the National Cancer Institute estimates.

But some prostate cancers, such as the malignancy discovered in former President Joe Biden, grow faster and can spread to other areas of the body. In 2025, nearly 36,000 men are expected to die of prostate cancer.

Does Medicare cover PSA tests?

Medicare Part B covers a prostate PSA blood test every 12 months for men older than 50, starting the day after your birthday. The majority of Medicare beneficiaries are 65 or older; about 1 in 8 are younger and qualify because of a disability.

The PSA test is a free preventive service that isn’t subject to deductibles or coinsurance as long as your doctor or other provider accepts assignment. While PSA levels can be higher in men who have prostate cancer, an infection, enlarged prostate, certain medications or some medical procedures can also cause elevated PSA levels.

What other prostate screenings does Medicare cover?

Medicare also covers additional screening and tests, so prostate cancer can be detected as early as possible, including:

Digital rectal exam. With a digital rectal exam, a health care provider inserts a gloved finger into the rectum to feel the prostate for abnormal lumps. Medicare Part B covers one digital rectal exam every 12 months starting the day after age 50.

This test is subject to a Part B deductible and 20 percent coinsurance.

MRI and biopsy. If you have a high PSA level and a suspicious finding in the digital rectal exam, your physician may order additional tests, such as an MRI or biopsy. The provider will also consider other factors in your history before ordering these tests, according to the American Cancer Society.

An MRI is an imaging test that uses magnets and radio waves to create a 3D picture of organs inside your body. Physicians use it to look for cancer and determine if the malignant cells have spread.

In a biopsy, a doctor removes a small sample of prostate tissue from inside your body to look at the cells under a microscope for signs of cancer.. The most common type is a core needle biopsy, in which a urologist inserts a thin needle into the prostate to take about 12 core samples from different areas.

The MRI and biopsy are covered by Part B as diagnostic tests and are subject to a deductible and 20 percent coinsurance. For more information about the different types of prostate cancer screening and tests, see the American Cancer Society’s guide to Screening Tests for Prostate Cancer.

Keep in mind

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force is reassessing its recommendations on PSA tests. Previously, it had advised that men ages 55 to 69 discuss the potential benefits and harms of PSA testing with their physician before deciding whether to undergo periodic PSA screening.

It also had recommended against PSA screening for prostate cancer in men 70 and older. While the task force noted that screening offers a small potential benefit of reducing the chance of death from prostate cancer in some men, it also identified potential harms, including:

False-positive results that require more tests and possible prostate biopsy
Overdiagnosis
Overtreatment
Treatment complications

The reason for the reassessment? Part of it is because the task force periodically reviews all of its recommendations.

Another reason is the realization that a family history of prostate cancer, especially of a father, brother or son, appears to increase the chances of developing an aggressive form of prostate cancer. Some studies show that Black men have a higher risk of prostate cancer and developing an aggressive form of the disease.

Though more fast-growing types of prostate cancers are more often diagnosed in younger men than older ones, that’s not always the case. Biden was diagnosed with an aggressive form of prostate cancer at age 82.

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This story, originally published July 6, 2023, has been updated with information about the U.S. Preventive Service Task Force’s reassessment of prostate cancer test recommendations.

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.

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