What's Covered?
Medicare offers free diabetes screening tests to check for diabetes for most seniors. If you are age 65 or older, and one or more of the following conditions applies to you, your health care provider can give you a free blood glucose test for diabetes:
- Family history of diabetes
- High blood pressure
- High cholesterol
- Overweight
- History of high glucose or “sugar” (pre-diabetes)
- History of gestational diabetes (diabetes during pregnancy) or a delivery of a baby weighing more than 9 pounds.
If you are a senior covered by Medicare, there is no copayment or deductible. Medicare says one of these health care providers must order the test: a doctor, physician's assistant, nurse practitioner or clinical nurse specialist.
Most seniors will qualify for this free screening test once per year.
If you find out you have diabetes, Medicare provides coverage. Click here to learn about Medicare's coverage for people with diabetes.
If you learn you have pre-diabetes, your health care provider can give you another free test for diabetes in six months. A large research study called the Diabetes Prevention Program proved that diabetes can often be prevented or delayed. The people in the research study who were successful at preventing diabetes did two things. They lost a relatively small amount of weight - what amounted to, on average, 15 to 20 pounds. Second, they increased their physical activity by walking for 30 minutes a day, most days of the week. (For more information on the Diabetes Prevention Program, click here.)