Now you don’t have to wait until you have a medical problem or illness before seeking out a Medicare or insurance covered office visit. According to the Affordable Care Act, you may now have a yearly office visit that centers on preventive health. During office encounter, doctors and nurse practitioners will review a patient’s history and risk factors for diseases, make sure that the patient’s medication list is up to date, and provide health advice and counseling including diet, nutrition and exercise.
The first wellness visit also enables the provider to establish a written preventive screening schedule. As this becomes well known, more patients will be able to avail themselves of this service.
The wellness/preventative health consultation may be conducted not only by doctors, but also physician assistants, nurse practitioners, clinical nurse specialists, and other licensed members of the health care team, allowing flexibility and convenience so that wait times are not intolerable.
Medicare patients may take advantage of this office visit any time after their first full year on Medicare: there is no time limit by which Medicare will no longer cover this visit. However, deductibles do not apply.