12 Services That Are Free Under Medicare

2. An annual wellness visit that helps keep you healthy

The yearly wellness visit — which becomes a covered benefit one year after your initial checkup — is meant to “update your personalized plan to help prevent disease or disability,” according to Medicare.gov.

Your doctor will probably take your vital signs; measure your blood pressure, height and weight; review your medical history and medications; and go over the preventive cancer screening schedule. Providers also are expected to do a cognitive assessment to look for any signs of dementia.

If during this visit your doctor needs to order some tests, such as blood work or an actual physical exam, then, as with that first Welcome to Medicare visit, the rules governing your coinsurance under Medicare Part B will apply.

3. Vaccines to prevent many severe illnesses

Thanks to a federal law passed in 2022, Medicare covers most vaccines at no cost to enrollees who have Medicare Part D stand-alone prescription drug coverage or Medicare Advantage with drug coverage. This coverage includes inoculations such as the shots for shingles and RSV that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends for older adults. Even before that change, Medicare Part B covered other vaccines at no charge, including seasonal flu, pneumonia and COVID-19 shots.

Quiz: Test Your Vaccine Smarts

4. Alcohol counseling points out why age and alcohol don’t mix

Medicare will cover one alcohol misuse screening each year.

In addition, the program will cover up to four brief face-to-face counseling sessions each year if you are someone who uses alcohol but doesn’t meet the medical criteria for being alcohol dependent. You must get the counseling in a primary care setting, such as a doctor’s office or clinic.

5. Smoking counseling: The goal is for you to quit

Medicare will pay for up to eight counseling sessions over a 12-month period to help you stop smoking or using tobacco. Smoking is not only the cause of most lung cancers but also linked to high blood pressure, making it a risk for heart attacks and strokes.

6. Diabetes screenings can stop prediabetes from progressing

Medicare Part B will cover up to two diabetes screenings each year, including blood glucose tests, if your doctor determines you are at risk for developing diabetes and you have risk factors such as high blood pressure, a history of abnormal cholesterol levels, obesity or a history of high blood sugar.

Part B will also cover these screenings if two or more of the following conditions apply:

• You are 65 or older
• You’re overweight
• You have a family history of diabetes
• You’ve had diabetes while you were pregnant, a condition known as gestational diabetes 

Additionally, Medicare offers a free Diabetes Prevention Program for people at risk of developing type 2 diabetes if they meet all required medical conditions. The six-month program includes weekly sessions and provides a trained coach to motivate you to make diet, exercise and behavioral changes. After six months, participants get six monthly follow-up sessions to help them maintain healthy habits. There’s no limit on the number of times a beneficiary can take the program.

Quiz: How Much Do You Know About Prediabetes?

7. Nutrition therapy helps you thrive with chronic conditions

Medicare will cover some nutrition services if you have diabetes or kidney disease or received a kidney transplant in the past 36 months. These services can include an initial nutrition and lifestyle assessment with a licensed dietitian, individual or group sessions, help managing the lifestyle factors that affect your diabetes and follow-up visits to check on your progress. 

Quiz: How Healthy Are Your Cooking and Eating Habits?

8. Mammograms can find breast cancer in early stages

Medicare will pay for a screening mammogram every 12 months for female beneficiaries age 40 or older. About one in five women ages 50 to 74 are not up to date on routine mammograms, the CDC says.

Be advised that if you get a diagnostic mammogram, which doctors typically will order after a screening mammogram shows some suspicious results and they want to take a closer look, then the rules governing Part B will apply and you will be responsible for 20 percent of the cost.

That copay would also apply if a doctor orders a breast ultrasound because the Medicare enrollee has dense breasts. Medicare will cover diagnostic mammograms more often than once a year if a doctor says they are medically necessary.

Medicare’s screening recommendations are based on United States Preventive Services Taskforce guidelines on age.

Medicare covers people 65 and older who meet citizenship, residency and other eligibility requirements. The program also covers those younger than 65 who have a qualifying disability, end-stage renal disease, or ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's’s disease.

9. Colorectal screenings catch possible cancer early

Different screening tests for colorectal cancer are covered for free if your doctor or other health care provider accepts Medicare’s payment in full. These include:

• A fecal occult blood test every 12 months, starting at age 45, if referred by your health care provider. This will detect blood in the stool.
• A flexible sigmoidoscopy every 48 months or every 10 years, depending on your risk, starting at age 45.
• An at-home stool DNA test every three years for people 45 to 85 who are not at high risk for colon cancer and don’t have symptoms of colorectal disease.
• A screening colonoscopy every 10 years if you are not at high risk for colon cancer, or every two years if you have a history of colon problems or a family history of colon cancer.
• A computed tomography colonography screening every two, four or five years depending on your risk. You must be at least 45 and the test must be ordered by your care provider. It helps find polyps, ulcers and cancer.
• A blood-based biomarker screening test every three years. You must be between the ages of 45 and 85 with no symptoms of colorectal disease and at average risk for developing colorectal cancer.

Quiz: Test Your Knowledge of Free Medicare Services

10. Lung cancer screenings are meant for smokers, ex-smokers

Lung cancer is the cause of the most cancer deaths in the U.S. each year. Medicare will cover a lung cancer screening using low-dose computed tomography — a special kind of X-ray — once a year if all these conditions apply: 

• You’re age 50 to 77
• You have no signs or symptoms of lung cancer
• You either smoke now or quit smoking in the past 15 years
• You have a history of smoking one pack a day for a 20-year period
• You get an order from your doctor or other health care provider

11. Prostate cancer tests allow comparisons through the years

Starting the day after a man turns 50, Medicare will cover a prostate-specific antigen (PSA) blood test every 12 months. If you need other follow-up services, like a digital rectal exam, then the 20 percent coinsurance rules for Medicare Part B will apply.

12. Depression screening can help combat isolation

Medicare covers one depression screening a year that must happen in a primary care setting, like a doctor’s office. The provider must also accept the Medicare-approved payment amount. Suicide rates among older men increase with age, as does social isolation. Women also have higher rates of depression as they get older and as their health declines.

If a provider recommends follow-up treatment or other mental health and behavioral services, then the coinsurance rules under Part B would apply. In a crisis, people can contact the free and confidential Suicide & Crisis Lifeline by calling or texting 988 at any time.

Quiz: What Do You Know About Depression?

This story, originally published Oct. 27, 2023, was updated with new information and additional links.