The WELL Seniors Act of 2025 makes changes to Medicare's annual wellness visit—a free checkup that seniors can get once a year. Right now, these visits cover basic health screenings and nutrition counseling. This bill expands what doctors must check during these visits to include things like whether someone might fall, their access to food and housing, transportation needs, and other factors that affect overall health. Starting January 1, 2026, doctors will also screen for balance problems that could lead to falls and refer patients for treatment if needed.

The bill also creates a financial incentive for doctors to provide more thorough wellness visits. If a doctor includes the expanded topics plus at least two additional screening elements, Medicare will pay them an extra 10 percent on top of the regular visit fee. Additionally, physical therapists, occupational therapists, and pharmacists can now provide these wellness visits, not just doctors. Medicare can also now cover these visits through telehealth (video appointments), making them more accessible for seniors who have trouble traveling.

To help seniors and doctors understand these changes, the government will launch an education campaign within a year, with special focus on reaching low-income seniors and those in rural areas. The bill also requires research to understand why many seniors aren't using their free wellness visits and what could encourage more people to take advantage of them. The government will study current practices and gather feedback from doctors, community organizations, and seniors themselves to find better ways to make these preventive visits more effective and widely used.