What does Medicare Part B cover?
The short answer
Medicare Part B covers doctor visits, outpatient care, preventive services like screenings and vaccines, and medically necessary services such as lab tests, imaging, and durable medical equipment. You typically pay 20% of the Medicare-approved amount after meeting your annual deductible.
The full explanation
Part B is the outpatient side of Original Medicare. It covers two broad categories: medically necessary services and preventive care.Medically necessary services include things like visits to your primary care doctor or specialist, outpatient surgery, mental health care, physical therapy, lab work, X-rays, MRIs, and durable medical equipment (walkers, wheelchairs, CPAP machines, and similar items). Basically, if a doctor orders it and Medicare deems it necessary to diagnose or treat a condition, Part B usually covers it.Preventive care includes annual wellness visits, flu shots, certain cancer screenings, diabetes screenings, and cardiovascular disease screenings. Many of these come with no cost-sharing if your doctor accepts Medicare assignment, meaning they've agreed to Medicare's approved payment rates.The standard setup is that Medicare pays 80% of the approved amount and you pay the remaining 20%, with no out-of-pocket cap on that 20%. That's why many people pair Part B with either a Medigap supplement or a Medicare Advantage plan, both of which can reduce or cap what you owe. Part B has a monthly premium and an annual deductible, and those amounts can change each year, so it's worth verifying current figures at medicare.gov or with a licensed agent.
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