Medicare Annual Wellness Visit Checklist for Retirees

The Medicare Annual Wellness Visit is a prevention-planning visit, not a full physical exam. It is still useful because it creates or updates a personalized prevention plan, reviews health risks, and can help families raise concerns before a crisis.

What to bring

• Current medications, supplements, pharmacies, and allergies.
• Names of doctors, therapists, home care agencies, and community services.
• Fall history, mobility changes, memory concerns, mood changes, and sleep problems.
• Recent hospital visits, new diagnoses, and caregiver concerns.
• Advance care planning questions or decision-maker updates.

What Medicare says

Medicare explains the benefit on its yearly wellness visits page. CMS also describes the Annual Wellness Visit as a chance to update the personalized prevention plan and referrals for health education, counseling, and community-based services on its Annual Wellness Visit page.

Family use

After the visit, update the emergency contact sheet, medication list, fall-prevention plan, and care-cost estimates. If the clinician recommends more supervision, therapy, transportation support, or cognitive evaluation, convert those recommendations into specific family tasks.