What does Medicare Part B cover?
Medicare Part B is medical insurance — it's the piece of Original Medicare that pays for care you get outside a hospital admission: doctor visits, outpatient procedures, preventive screenings, durable medical equipment, and ambulance rides. If Part A covers the hospital bed, Part B covers the doctor standing next to it and everything you need before or after that bed.
Unlike Part A, almost everyone pays a monthly premium for Part B, and it's income-adjusted — higher earners pay more. Once you enroll, an annual deductible applies before Medicare starts sharing costs, and standard coinsurance applies after that.
Covered
- Doctor visits
Office visits with your primary care physician or specialists, whether the appointment is in-person or via telehealth.
- Outpatient care
Services performed in a hospital outpatient department, ambulatory surgical center, or clinic without an overnight admission.
- Preventive services
Annual wellness visits, cancer screenings, vaccines (flu, COVID, pneumonia, hepatitis B), and cardiovascular and diabetes screenings, mostly at no added cost.
- Durable medical equipment
Wheelchairs, walkers, hospital beds, and oxygen equipment prescribed by a doctor for home use.
- Ambulance services
Emergency ground or air transport when other transportation would endanger your health, and some scheduled non-emergency transport for medical needs.
- Outpatient mental health care
Therapy and counseling sessions with a Medicare-enrolled psychiatrist, psychologist, or clinical social worker.
- Limited outpatient prescription drugs
Drugs a clinician administers or infuses in an office or clinic setting — chemotherapy infusions, injectable arthritis drugs — rather than pills you take home.
Not covered
- Routine dental care
Cleanings, fillings, and dentures are excluded from Original Medicare regardless of Part A or B.
- Routine vision care
Eye exams for glasses and the glasses themselves aren't covered, though post-cataract-surgery lenses are an exception.
- Routine hearing care
Hearing exams and hearing aids are excluded; Medicare only covers a diagnostic hearing exam when a doctor orders it to evaluate a medical condition.
- Most self-administered prescription drugs
Pills and injections you take at home are covered under Part D, a separate plan you buy or add.
- Long-term custodial care
Part B covers medical services, not help with bathing, dressing, or other activities of daily living.
- Cosmetic surgery
Elective procedures done for appearance rather than to correct an accidental injury or malformation aren't covered.
Bottom line
Part B is the workhorse for everyday and preventive medical care — the doctor visits, screenings, and equipment that keep you out of the hospital in the first place — but it stops at the pharmacy counter and the dentist's chair. An annual deductible applies before Medicare pays its share, and standard coinsurance applies after that; both change yearly, so check medicare.gov/basics/costs for the current figures rather than assuming last year's numbers still hold.
That's the general picture. Yours is written in your actual documents.
Check my coverage →