The Medicare Annual Wellness Checkup Is a Great Benefit

[MineralMan]

For you folks approaching Medicare age, you get two benefits that are underrated by many people. The first is the Welcome to Medicare physical exam. In it, you get a complete physical exam, including an electrocardiogram and a complete panel of blood tests. It's designed to create a baseline set of measurements at age 65. There is no cost for this exam, which should probably be done at a multi-specialty clinic that can handle all aspects of it.

The second important benefit is an annual wellness exam. Again, it is completely free. In it, you'll get a comprehensive set of blood tests, a basic physical exam, cognitive and mental state testing, a review of your current medications, and counseling on health concerns. It's best if you have this done at the same clinic where you had your Welcome to Medicare exam. In fact, I recommend making a multi-specialty clinic your primary care center. Typically, you'll see the same physician for all general visits, year after year.

I just had annual wellness checkup yesterday, done by the same doctor I've seen for years. The multi-specialty clinic I use has a website where you can make appointments, review test results and ask questions via email of your healthcare team. The blood test results from yesterday were sitting there this morning, along with a note from my physician. Fortunately, everything was normal, so that's good news. I have my prescriptions for the next year. They were sent directly to my pharmacy, and I picked up the first 90 day supply an hour after my appointment.

I recommend, when choosing a multi-specialty clinic, that you ask about online records, and ask whether you can choose the primary care physician to be assigned to you. I changed mine twice after first starting to use the clinic. It's important to have a primary care person you like, so you can build a relationship over time.

Medicare is terrific! We need Medicare for All as our universal healthcare system.

[Yonnie3]

1. Yes indeed.

This describes my experience very closely. I always did my annual visit before medicare, but this seems more focused.

My clinic is "Family Practice" and I've used them and the same physician for around 20 years. They have sent me to various specialists, who now use the same website, which is very convenient.

I had approached Medicare with some trepidation and find it was unfounded.

[Raven]

2. I agree! It's a wonderful benefit and

I love the clock test. The first time I took the test, here was a clock on the wall behind the nurse.

[MineralMan]

3. That's funny. Last year, I asked the nurse whether I should draw

a digital or analog clock. She laughed. There is a clock in the exam room at my clinic, too, but it doesn't read 11:10, so it's no help at all.

The other funny thing is that they use the same three words for the short term memory evaluation year after year. Banana. Sunrise. Chair. This year, when the nurse said that she was going to say three words and then ask me to repeat them later, I said, "So, are they banana, sunrise and chair, like last year?" She said "Yes. It looks like your memory is OK." and checked off her box. Then she took my blood pressure.

It doesn't really matter, though. A clock on the wall won't help someone with cognitive problems, really. And people with memory deficits won't remember the words from last year, so the tests are still valid. Besides, it's important that the nurse remembers the words, so that's why they use the same ones every year.