Humana Annual Wellness Visits
- Humana Medicare beneficiaries have full coverage for the Medicare annual wellness visit. Learn what’s included in an annual wellness visit and how it differs from a physical exam.
Humana Medicare Advantage plans offer a variety of preventive care services. Included among them is an annual wellness visit.
Your Medicare annual wellness visit is covered by Medicare Part B, and Medicare Advantage plans (also called Medicare Part C) like the ones offered by Humana are required by law to cover everything found in Original Medicare (Medicare Part A and Part B). Hence, the annual wellness visit is included as part of every Humana Medicare Advantage plan.
What Is an Annual Wellness Visit?
When you first join Medicare, you will have an opportunity to receive a “Welcome to Medicare” visit, where your physician will examine you and establish a baseline of your health.
In addition to reviewing your medical history, the Welcome to Medicare visit will typically include:
- Select screenings and vaccinations
- Height, weight and blood measurements
- Body mass index (BMI) calculation
- Vision test
- Depression risk assessment
- Discussion about advance directives
- A written plan detailing additional screenings, shots and other preventive services to seek
Each year after your first year of Medicare, you will be eligible to receive an annual wellness exam.
The annual wellness exam serves as a yearly follow-up visit to monitor any changes in your health and lifestyle and review other preventive services. As we’ll describe more below, your Medicare annual wellness visit is not the same as a routine physical.
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What Is Included in a Wellness Visit?
A Humana annual wellness visit may include any or all the following services.
Updating Your List of Health Care Providers
Your doctor may want to know which health care providers you’ve seen in the past year and for what sort of treatment. This can be especially helpful if you are a member of a Humana HMO (Health Maintenance Organization) plan where your care is coordinated within the Humana network by your primary care physician.
Updating Your List of Prescriptions
It’s helpful to your doctor to know which medications you are currently taking or have taken since your last annual wellness visit. This helps your doctor make diet recommendations, prescribe future medications and check for side effects.
Collecting Health Measurements
Your height, weight and blood pressure may be measured and recorded to monitor any changes since your previous exam. These measurements help your doctor make prescription dosage decisions or other health recommendations.
Assessing Cognitive Impairment
Early detection of cognitive impairment is key, so screenings for Alzheimer’s, dementia and mood disorders are typically part of the annual wellness exam.
Making a Health Plan for the Next Year
Your doctor may give you personalized health advice based on the results of your wellness exam along with a list of your risk factors, treatment options and screening schedule.
Is a Wellness Visit the Same as a Physical?
A wellness visit is similar in nature to a routine physical or health checkup, but it’s important to note that it’s not quite the same thing. The Medicare wellness exam is taken once before any of the Humana annual wellness visits occur.
The biggest difference is that there is no physical touch involved in a wellness visit (other than things like strapping on a blood pressure cuff or measuring your height). Therefore, a wellness visit does not include an actual physical exam.
While you may undergo various screenings and vaccinations in your initial Welcome to Medicare visit, there are no bloodwork or lab tests performed at the ensuing wellness visits. Rather, the doctor conducting the wellness visit will issue referrals or recommendations for those services if it’s determined they may be needed.
While a physical exam addresses current health problems with a more hands-on approach, a Medicare annual wellness visit focuses more on discussing preventive measures and health and lifestyle assessments and changes.
How Are Wellness Visits Covered?
Welcome to Medicare and Annual wellness visits are covered at 100% by Medicare Part B and Medicare Advantage plans.
Original Medicare does not cover routine physical exams.
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