Annual Physical Exam Checklist by Age, for Women and Men

An annual physical is the one visit where nothing hurts and everything gets checked. But “everything” isn’t the same at 25 as at 65, and some of what people expect, like a big yearly blood panel, isn’t actually recommended for most adults. Here’s what’s due at your age, what’s the same for everyone, and how a physical differs from the “wellness” visits insurers and Medicare cover.

What happens at every physical

MedlinePlus describes the annual checkup, also called an annual physical, as a visit that includes physical exams as well as preventive care (MedlinePlus). In practice, every visit covers the same core, whatever your age (MyHealthfinder):

• Your history: your medical and family history, medicines and supplements, and how you eat, move and sleep.
• Measurements: height and weight, body mass index and blood pressure.
• An exam, guided by your age and history.
• Questions that are screening tests in their own right: the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommends asking adults about depression, unhealthy alcohol use, tobacco and drug use, and asking adults 64 and younger about anxiety (USPSTF).
• A vaccine check, and a plan for the screenings you’re due for.

Annual physical checklist by age

These are the USPSTF’s main recommendations for adults at average risk, paraphrased (USPSTF). Your provider may add others for your history.

Age	Everyone	Women	Men
18 to 39	Blood pressure every 3 to 5 years if normal and low risk (yearly if at risk); HIV test at least once; hepatitis C test once; diabetes screening from 35 if overweight	Pap test every 3 years from 21; chlamydia and gonorrhea testing through 24; partner-violence screening; folic acid if you could become pregnant	Same core checklist
40 to 49	Blood pressure every year; diabetes screening every 3 years if overweight and normal; a heart-risk check for statins; colorectal screening from 45	Mammogram every 2 years from 40; Pap test every 3 years, or HPV test every 5	Same core checklist
50 to 64	Colorectal screening; a yearly low-dose CT lung scan from 50 if you have a 20 pack-year smoking history and smoke now or quit within 15 years	Mammogram every 2 years; cervical screening through 65; bone density if you’re past menopause and at higher risk	From 55, a conversation about PSA testing for prostate cancer, an individual decision
65 and older	Diabetes screening through 70; colorectal screening through 75; lung screening through 80 if eligible; exercise to prevent falls if you’re at risk	Bone density test; mammogram through 74	A one-time ultrasound for an abdominal aortic aneurysm at 65 to 75 if you ever smoked; no routine PSA screening from 70

A few of these are worth a closer look:

• Colorectal screening has options: a stool test every year, or a colonoscopy every 10 years if results are normal, among others.
• Prostate cancer screening is a choice, not a default. The USPSTF calls PSA testing at 55 to 69 an individual decision after talking through the benefits and harms, and recommends against it from 70 (USPSTF).
• Breast cancer screening: federal women’s health guidelines say to start mammograms no later than 50, and at least every two years (HRSA); the USPSTF’s starting age is 40.

Blood work at a physical: what’s recommended and what isn’t

Many people expect a long blood panel every year, but the recommended tests are fewer and depend on your risk:

Test	Who, and how often
A1C or blood sugar	Adults 35 to 70 with overweight or obesity; every 3 years if normal
Cholesterol	“Most healthy adults should have their cholesterol checked every 4 to 6 years,” more often with heart disease, diabetes or a family history (CDC)
Hepatitis C	All adults 18 and older at least once (CDC)
Hepatitis B	The CDC recommends testing all adults at least once (CDC)
HIV	Everyone 13 to 64 at least once (CDC)

A complete blood count and a metabolic panel are often part of a routine checkup (MedlinePlus), but they aren’t screening tests the USPSTF recommends for healthy adults. The USPSTF finds too little evidence to recommend testing everyone for vitamin D deficiency or thyroid problems, and MedlinePlus notes that “Routine vitamin D testing is not recommended for everyone” (MedlinePlus). If you’re curious what your numbers mean once they come back, see our guide to how long blood test results take, and how to read them.

Vaccines

Your physical is a good time to review vaccines. The CDC’s current adult schedule includes a flu shot every year, a tetanus booster every 10 years, shingles and pneumococcal vaccines starting at 50, and an RSV vaccine for adults 75 and older, or 50 to 74 with certain conditions (CDC). Federal vaccine guidance has been changing since 2025 and is tied to ongoing court cases, so your provider will confirm which vaccines are right for you.

Physical, wellness visit, or well-woman visit?

These names get mixed up, and the difference matters for what you pay.

• Medicare’s yearly Wellness visit “is a conversation-based visit with your doctor or other health care provider to create a prevention plan. It isn’t a routine physical exam” (Medicare). Original Medicare doesn’t cover routine physical exams at all (Medicare).
• A well-woman visit is a preventive visit for the services recommended for women. The federal guidelines call for at least one preventive visit a year, which can be split across several visits (HRSA), and “insurance plans must cover at least 1 well-woman visit a year at no cost to you” (MyHealthfinder).
• A preventive physical with a private plan is usually covered at no cost in the network, but if you also bring up a new problem, that part of the visit can be billed.

What an annual physical costs

With most private and Marketplace plans, recommended preventive services cost nothing in the network (HealthCare.gov). For a sense of the underlying price, the Health Care Cost Institute found that employer plans paid an average of about $163 to $209 for a preventive visit in 2022, depending on age and whether you were a new patient, with a lipid panel adding about $21 (HCCI). Those are insurance averages, not cash prices: if you’re paying yourself, ask the office for its self-pay price before the visit.

How to prepare

• Bring a list of your medicines, vitamins and supplements, and any recent results from other doctors.
• Know your family history: diabetes, heart disease, stroke and cancer, and at what age.
• Ask whether you need to fast, which is only needed for some blood tests.
• Write down your questions. If a symptom is bothering you, mention it when you book so there’s time for it.

Annual physicals at Ambert

Ambert Medical Care Center does annual physicals at both its Miami Lakes and Kendall offices, in English or Spanish, and blood work, when it’s ordered, is drawn at the Miami Lakes office. The practice accepts Medicare, Medicaid, Marketplace and commercial plans; Florida Medicaid covers an adult health screening once every 365 days from age 21. See annual physicals and preventive care for the details, and women’s health and Pap smears for well-woman exams. If you’re due for a Pap, read what to expect at a Pap smear test; in Spanish, read chequeo médico general.

Call the Miami Lakes or Kendall office to book. New patients can start with the new patient guide.