Yes. Medicare Part B covers one cardiovascular behavioral therapy visit each year, and you pay nothing for it when your provider accepts assignment. It's a face-to-face sit-down with your primary care provider about lowering your risk of heart disease: a blood pressure check, a talk about whether a daily aspirin makes sense for you, and some coaching on eating for a healthier heart.
In This Guide
- Key Takeaways
- What Medicare's Cardiovascular Behavioral Therapy Visit Covers
- What Happens During the Visit
- Who Can Get the Visit
- How Much Does Cardiovascular Behavioral Therapy Cost?
- How Medicare Covers Cardiovascular Behavioral Therapy vs. the Screening Blood Tests
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Learn More
What Medicare's Cardiovascular Behavioral Therapy Visit Covers
Medicare's formal name for it is intensive behavioral therapy (IBT) for cardiovascular disease (CVD). Don't let the clinical name throw you. In plain terms, it's a once-a-year visit with your regular provider focused on one thing: keeping your heart healthy and cutting your odds of a heart attack or stroke.Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. (n.d.). Medicare.gov — Cardiovascular behavioral therapy. medicare.gov. Retrieved Jul 10, 2026, from https://www.medicare.gov/coverage/cardiovascular-behavioral-therapy
Medicare counts it as a preventive service and covers one of these visits per year under Part B.Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. (n.d.). Medicare.gov — Cardiovascular behavioral therapy. medicare.gov. Retrieved Jul 10, 2026, from https://www.medicare.gov/coverage/cardiovascular-behavioral-therapy It's been a covered benefit for years, laid out in Medicare's national coverage rule for the visit (known as NCD 210.11), so this isn't a new or experimental thing. It's a standard part of what Part B pays for.
The short version? If you're on Medicare and you want to sit down with your provider and make a plan for your heart, this is the visit that covers that conversation, once a year, at no cost to you when your provider accepts assignment.
What Happens During the Visit
This isn't a physical, and it isn't a stress test. It's a conversation built around three specific things Medicare's rule spells out.Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. (n.d.). Medicare.gov — Cardiovascular behavioral therapy. medicare.gov. Retrieved Jul 10, 2026, from https://www.medicare.gov/coverage/cardiovascular-behavioral-therapy
A blood pressure check. High blood pressure is one of the biggest drivers of heart disease, so the visit includes screening for it. Simple, but it matters.
A talk about aspirin. Your provider will talk with you about whether taking a daily aspirin to help prevent a first heart attack or stroke is a good idea for you, in the cases where the benefits outweigh the risks.Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. (n.d.). Medicare.gov — Cardiovascular behavioral therapy. medicare.gov. Retrieved Jul 10, 2026, from https://www.medicare.gov/coverage/cardiovascular-behavioral-therapy Aspirin isn't right for everyone, so this is a genuine back-and-forth, not a prescription handed out automatically.
Counseling on a heart-healthy diet. The visit includes one-on-one counseling to help you eat in a way that's better for your heart. It's aimed especially at people who already have risk factors like high cholesterol or high blood pressure, or who are getting older.Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. (n.d.). Medicare.gov — Cardiovascular behavioral therapy. medicare.gov. Retrieved Jul 10, 2026, from https://www.medicare.gov/coverage/cardiovascular-behavioral-therapy
The counseling follows a structured approach the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force calls the Five A's: assess where you are, advise on changes, agree on goals, assist with a plan, and arrange follow-up.Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. (n.d.). Medicare.gov — Cardiovascular behavioral therapy. medicare.gov. Retrieved Jul 10, 2026, from https://www.medicare.gov/coverage/cardiovascular-behavioral-therapy In other words, you leave with an actual plan, not just a lecture.
Who Can Get the Visit
If you have Medicare Part B, you're eligible. There's one practical requirement worth knowing: the visit has to be furnished by a qualified primary care doctor or practitioner in a primary care setting, and you need to be alert and able to take part in the counseling when it happens.Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. (n.d.). Medicare.gov — Cardiovascular behavioral therapy. medicare.gov. Retrieved Jul 10, 2026, from https://www.medicare.gov/coverage/cardiovascular-behavioral-therapy So this is your regular doctor's office, not a specialist's suite or a hospital procedure room.
One note on the aspirin piece. The coverage rule frames the aspirin conversation around men ages 45 to 79 and women ages 55 to 79.Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. (n.d.). Medicare.gov — Cardiovascular behavioral therapy. medicare.gov. Retrieved Jul 10, 2026, from https://www.medicare.gov/coverage/cardiovascular-behavioral-therapy Those age bands come from the rule itself, which dates back to 2011, and current aspirin advice has shifted since then. So treat them as who the benefit's aspirin discussion was written for, not as a recommendation that you personally should be on aspirin. Whether aspirin is right for you is exactly the kind of thing to settle with your doctor at the visit.
How Much Does Cardiovascular Behavioral Therapy Cost?
When your provider accepts assignment, you pay $0 for the cardiovascular behavioral therapy visit: no deductible, no coinsurance.Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. (n.d.). Medicare.gov — Cardiovascular behavioral therapy. medicare.gov. Retrieved Jul 10, 2026, from https://www.medicare.gov/coverage/cardiovascular-behavioral-therapy Medicare treats it as a preventive service, and preventive services in this category come at no cost to you.
It helps to see that against how ordinary Part B care is billed. Most Part B services aren't free: you first pay the annual Part B deductible, which is $283 in 2026, and then 20% of the Medicare-approved amount.Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. (2026). 2026 Medicare Parts A & B Premiums and Deductibles. cms.gov. Retrieved Jul 23, 2026, from https://www.cms.gov/newsroom/fact-sheets/2026-medicare-parts-b-premiums-deductibles The cardiovascular behavioral therapy visit skips all of that. That's the whole point of a preventive benefit, so there's no cost standing between you and the visit.
The one thing to keep in mind: "accepts assignment" is the condition on the $0.Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. (n.d.). Medicare.gov — Cardiovascular behavioral therapy. medicare.gov. Retrieved Jul 10, 2026, from https://www.medicare.gov/coverage/cardiovascular-behavioral-therapy It means your provider agrees to Medicare's approved amount as full payment. Most providers who take Medicare do, but it's a fair question to ask the office when you book.
How Medicare Covers Cardiovascular Behavioral Therapy vs. the Screening Blood Tests
This trips people up, because the names sound almost identical. Medicare has two different heart-related benefits, and it's worth keeping them straight.
The cardiovascular behavioral therapy visit is a conversation: a face-to-face counseling visit with your provider about blood pressure, aspirin, and diet. The cardiovascular screening blood tests are a lab test, a blood draw that checks your cholesterol and blood fats to spot heart-disease risk early. They're separate benefits with separate rules, and getting one doesn't use up the other.
If your goal is a plan for lowering your risk, the behavioral therapy visit is the one you want. If you're trying to find out where your cholesterol numbers stand, that's the screening blood test. Plenty of people end up using both, and there's no reason you can't.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Medicare cover cardiovascular behavioral therapy?
Yes, under Part B, at $0 when your provider accepts assignment.Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. (n.d.). Medicare.gov — Cardiovascular behavioral therapy. medicare.gov. Retrieved Jul 10, 2026, from https://www.medicare.gov/coverage/cardiovascular-behavioral-therapy You don't need a referral or a heart-disease diagnosis to qualify. If you have Part B, ask your primary care provider to schedule it as a preventive visit.
What does the cardiovascular behavioral therapy visit include?
It's a counseling conversation, not a physical or a lab test. Your provider screens your blood pressure, talks through whether a daily aspirin fits your situation, and helps you build a heart-healthy eating plan. The visit is structured so you leave with concrete next steps rather than general advice.
Is the heart disease prevention visit really free?
The visit is $0 when your provider accepts assignment, which means they take Medicare's approved amount as full payment.Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. (n.d.). Medicare.gov — Cardiovascular behavioral therapy. medicare.gov. Retrieved Jul 10, 2026, from https://www.medicare.gov/coverage/cardiovascular-behavioral-therapy That's the condition on the free price, so it's worth confirming with the office when you schedule.
How often can I get it?
Once a year. Medicare covers one cardiovascular behavioral therapy visit per year.
Is this the same as the Medicare cholesterol screening?
No. The behavioral therapy visit is a counseling conversation about lowering your heart-disease risk. The cardiovascular screening is a separate blood test that checks your cholesterol. They're two different benefits.
Learn More
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