Preventive Care and You
Health Screening and Preventive Care That May Be Low-Cost or Free
"An Ounce of Prevention Is Worth A Pound of Cure"
It may be an old-fashioned concept, but it is still true that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Many of the top risk factors leading to serious illness are preventable. For this reason, we offer Annual Wellness Visit preventive screenings as well as the additional service of Physical Exams.
Many Annual Wellness Visit preventive screenings are covered up to 100% by your Original Medicare Plan and other commercial insurance if it has been a full year since your last Annual Wellness Visit screening. Your physician may recommend cholesterol testing, blood sugar testing, basic vision testing, fall risk assessment, memory assessment, depression screening, and good health habit ideas. Typically, at the time of Annual Wellness Visit preventive health screening, your doctor will recommend that day that you agree to have a Physical Examination in addition to the preventive screenings if you have conditions the doctor believes should be examined out of medical necessity.
Please note that the Physical Exam portion of the annual visit that involves a discussion and examination of medical conditions may not be fully covered by Original Medicare or commercial insurance.
We know as physicians how important Annual Wellness Preventive Visits and Annual Physical Exams are to your future health. Sometimes testing, imaging, outside specialist visits are seen by your Alamar Healthcare Doctor as very important and medically necessary. In that case, our physicians will work in partnership with you and your caregiver or family member to coordinate your care with testing, specialists and treatment facilities in order to provide you consistent, continuity of care.
Call today for your Annual Wellness Visit as your Physical Exam appointment
at 1 (805) 484-0055
Learn More About Preventive Visits vs. Physical Examinations
The Affordable Care Act, a.k.a. Obamacare, generally mandates that insurance carriers cover free preventive screening and wellness visits. But we advise patients that the federal law does not necessarily cover annual deductible or co-pays or co-insurance for Physical Examinations. While many commercial insurance Plans cover a percent of the Physical Exam portion of the visit where there is medical necessity, the balance of reimbursement, typically the annual deductible and any co-payments and co-insurance that are not covered by patient insurance. Therefore, financial balances become the financial responsibility of the patient. This is also true about patient financial responsibility for Original Medicare Physical Exams. Therefore, please note that the Physical Exam portion of the annual visit that involves a discussion and examination of medical conditions may not be fully covered by Original Medicare or commercial insurance. However if you have conditions that should be evaluated by our doctors, our doctors recommend that you agree to adding on a Physical Exam to your Annual Wellness Preventive Screening Visit for your good health.