How to Prepare for Your 'Welcome to Medicare' Preventive Visit

Quick Answer: The "Welcome to Medicare" preventive visit is a one-time appointment, covered by Medicare, that you can use during your first 12 months of Part B, according to Medicare.gov. It is not a head-to-toe physical — it is a planning session where your doctor records your health baseline, reviews your risks, and maps out the screenings you will need in the years ahead. Arriving prepared — with your medication list, family history, and immunization records — turns a routine visit into one of the most useful hours you will spend on your health this year.

Turning 65 comes with a long to-do list, and this visit is the item most people either skip or waste. Doctors across Central Florida — from Altamonte Springs to Winter Park — see the same pattern: patients arrive without records, spend the visit reconstructing their history from memory, and leave without the prevention plan the visit exists to create. A little preparation changes everything.

What actually happens at the Welcome to Medicare visit?

According to Medicare.gov, the visit includes:

• A review of your medical and family history
• Measurement of your height, weight, and blood pressure — your baseline numbers
• A calculation of your body mass index (BMI)
• A simple vision test
• A review of your risk for depression and your safety at home
• A written prevention plan: a checklist of the screenings, shots, and services recommended for you, with a schedule

Notice what is not on the list: bloodwork, a full physical exam, or treatment of ongoing problems. If you want lab work or need to discuss a specific condition, tell the office when you book so they can schedule that part properly.

What should you bring?

This is where preparation pays off. Bring:

1. Every medication you take — prescriptions, over-the-counter medicines, vitamins, and supplements. The safest method is the "brown bag" approach recommended by the National Institute on Aging: put the actual bottles in a bag and bring them all.
2. Your family health history, as far back as you know it — parents' and siblings' major conditions and ages. Family history changes which screenings your doctor recommends and when.
3. Your immunization records. If you cannot find them, your previous doctor's office or pharmacy can often help before the visit.
4. A list of the doctors you already see, including dentists and eye doctors.
5. Your own questions, written down. The ones you think of in the parking lot afterward do not count.

How do you turn the visit into a real prevention plan?

The written checklist you leave with is the whole point of the appointment. Recommendations differ from person to person, but for most adults over 65 the conversation should cover the major screenings health authorities recommend at this age — for example, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommends colorectal cancer screening through age 75, and bone-density screening for women 65 and older. Your doctor will also review recommended vaccinations; the CDC recommends a yearly flu shot for everyone, with higher-dose versions specifically preferred for adults 65 and older, and the two-dose shingles vaccine for adults 50 and older.

Ask your doctor to be specific: which screening, when, and where. In the Orlando area, most screenings can be scheduled inside the AdventHealth and Orlando Health systems, often at the same campus as your primary doctor — putting a location and a month next to each item makes the plan real.

What if you are past your first 12 months?

You have not missed your chance at a yearly planning visit. After you have had Part B for 12 months, Medicare covers an Annual Wellness Visit every year, per Medicare.gov. The two visits are easy to confuse, so here is the difference at a glance:

	Welcome to Medicare visit	Annual Wellness Visit
When	Once, during your first 12 months of Part B	Every 12 months after that first year
Focus	Records your baseline and builds your first prevention plan	Updates the plan, reviews medications, checks memory and thinking
How often	One time only	Yearly

That yearly memory-and-thinking check is a topic we cover in depth in our guide to normal memory changes versus early dementia signs. The Welcome visit is simply the best first version of that conversation, because it sets the baseline everything else is measured against.

A word about the visit itself

Some seniors skip this appointment because they feel fine. That is exactly the situation the visit is designed for. High blood pressure, early diabetes, and bone loss are quiet conditions — they rarely announce themselves. A baseline recorded at 65 gives your doctor something concrete to compare against at 70 and 75, when a small drift in the numbers can matter. Think of it the way you would think of a home inspection: you do it before there is a problem.

If you are still working with your medications spread across two pharmacies, this visit is also the natural moment to consolidate — our article on preventing dangerous drug interactions explains why one pharmacy is one of the simplest safety upgrades available.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is the Welcome to Medicare visit required? No. It is optional — but it is covered by Medicare during your first 12 months of Part B (per Medicare.gov), and it is the easiest way to start your Medicare years with a written prevention plan instead of guesswork.

Is it a physical exam? No. It records your baseline measurements, reviews your history and risks, and produces a screening plan. If you want a fuller exam or lab work, ask the office how to schedule that when you book.

What is the difference between this and the Annual Wellness Visit? The Welcome visit is one-time, during your first 12 months of Part B. The Annual Wellness Visit is the yearly follow-up version, available after you have had Part B for 12 months — Medicare.gov describes both.

Can I bring a family member? Yes, and it is often a good idea. A second set of ears helps, especially for the prevention-plan discussion at the end.

Your Next Steps

• Check the date your Part B started — your 12-month window runs from that date
• Call your doctor's office and ask specifically for the "Welcome to Medicare preventive visit"
• Bag up every medication, vitamin, and supplement you take
• Write down your family history and your top three health questions
• Leave with a written prevention plan — and put each screening on your calendar

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This article is for general education only and is not medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always talk with your doctor or another qualified health professional about your own health, medications, and care decisions. Never delay seeking care because of something you read here. If you think you may be having a medical emergency, call 911.