How Do Free Wellness Visits Work? Are There Limits?
Is it true that doctors can only treat you for three different things on one visit. That’s what a doctor told me today when I went for a visit that because of obamacare they can only treat me for three different issues and that I would need to go another day and pay again for the other issues I have.
Answer
A doctor is required to give a free annual wellness (preventive) visit as an opportunity to develop a personalized prevention plan, which includes planning for the preventive screenings and services. This is true for all private and public insurance types. The annual wellness visit is a chance to review the care you are receiving from other doctors and to discuss how to best treat you. They can also administer or give you the go-ahead for preventive care at this visit. There is no rule regarding the amount of issues you can discuss or be treated for. However in some cases it would make sense that additional visits would have to be set up for treatment and testing. At the end of the day, cost sharing for treatments and limitations are dictated by your health plan (although your doctor obviously has to administer them).
We can't find anything in the new rules or law that validates what your doctor said. Perhaps they would like to point to the law they are referring to so we can discuss this further.
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I have yet to receive a wellness visit without paying a co-pay!!
Partners Healthcare at Newton-Wellesley Hospital has obviously benefited from the loop hole in this law! Unreal! I have called Partners, my doctors office, and BCBS and have gotten no where! They all says it depends on what is discussed in the visit. It’s my 15 mins with the doctor and if we discuss the color of the sky – so be it! Absolutely ridiculous!