MedNOW and Medicare Want You To Stay Healthy!
Medicare allows for an Annual Wellness Visit (AWV). The AWV allows us to gain important health information about the patient, including medical and family history, health risks, and specific vitals. Not to be confused with a complete physical examination, the purpose of the AWV is to review the patient’s wellness and develop a personalized prevention plan.
Having a yearly visit means your provider can easily see changes in your health. Maybe your blood pressure is higher, or you’ve lost a lot of weight without dieting. If you skip an AWV, important changes could be missed.
When you have an AWV, your doctor can catch problems at an earlier stage, when they are usually easier to treat.
The AWV provides an opportunity for medical providers to improve the quality of care and assist in patient engagement.
Does Medicare pay for an Annual Physical?
Medicare does not cover annual physical exams. Medicare does cover a single "initial preventive physical examination," or IPPE when you first join Medicare. Afterwards, Medicare covers th d "annual wellness visit," or AWV as described above.
Confused? You're not alone. The differences between traditional physicals and how Medicare approaches annual exams have created headaches for providers and beneficiaries since the Medicare AWV debuted in 2011.
There is confusion about the differences between a Medicare annual wellness visit vs. an annual physical exam.
For providers, this confusion can lead to unhappy patients.
MedNOW has a solution:
When our providers see you for the AWV, we can also perform a co-occurring patient visit, during which our provider can conduct an exam and can address chronic medical conditions. While there is no charge for the AWV part of the visit, there will be a charge to Medicare or your Medicare Advantage program for the other components of the visit: the physical exam and addressing the chronic conditions.
Remember, Original Medicare does not cover a physical exam other than the first physical exam when you get Medicare. Many Medicare Advantage programs do cover a physical exam.
To help navigate answer all questions related to Medicare coverage, MedNOW Clinics recommends working with an insurance broker to navigate your options, and we are pleased to work with the following brokers:
· Colorado Insurance Advisors 888-222-3333
· Integrity Health Advisors 303-507-1216
MK Ritchen
mk@mkplans.com
www.integrityhealthadvisors.com