Medicare pays for one depression screen a year, and only where someone is there to act on it
Since 2011 Medicare has covered one depression screen a year, up to fifteen minutes, but only when staff-assisted depression care supports are in place for diagnosis, treatment and follow-up. A second screen in a year is not covered.
We have not finished checking this source. No judgement either way. how we score evidence
Caveat on this rating: The coverage decision states a minimum staffing condition, not a standard of care; whether a given clinic meets it is not something the decision can verify.
Significant findings
The reason your annual Medicare visit includes a depression screen is a national coverage determination, NCD 210.9, effective 14 October 2011. It covers "Annual screening up to 15 minutes for Medicare beneficiaries when staff-assisted depression care supports are in place to assure accurate diagnosis, effective treatment, and follow-up."
The condition is the point. "At a minimum level, staff-assisted supports consist of clinical staff (e.g., nurse, physician assistant) in the primary care setting who can advise the physician of screening results and who can facilitate and coordinate referrals to mental health treatment." Medicare wrote the trial evidence into the rule: screening alone changes nothing, screening with someone to act on it can.
And the limit: "Screening for depression is non-covered when performed more than one time in a 12-month period."
Worth asking
If you were screened, the rule assumes there is a person whose job is to follow up on the result. Ask who that is. If the answer is nobody, the screen was done outside the condition Medicare set for paying for it.
Source
National Coverage Determination 210.9: Screening for Depression in Adults — Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (2011)
Read the source: https://www.cms.gov/medicare-coverage-database/view/ncd.aspx?NCDId=346
How this was scored
- Study design
- not recorded
- Funding
- not recorded
- Published in
- not recorded
- Sample size
- not recorded
- Preregistered
- not recorded
- Conflicts disclosed
- not recorded
- Independent of proponent
- not recorded
- Retracted
- No
We have not finished checking this source, so there is no scoring to show yet. “We have not checked this yet” and “this is disputed” are different statements, so no scored band is shown rather than a low one.
Read the full scoring rubric, including what it can't tell you.
Published September 17, 2026.
Questions
How strong is the evidence behind this?
veisund rates this source "not yet assessed". We have not finished checking this source. No judgement either way. One caveat travels with that badge: The coverage decision states a minimum staffing condition, not a standard of care; whether a given clinic meets it is not something the decision can verify. The score is calculated from recorded facts about the source — study design, funding, publication venue, sample size, preregistration — not typed in by an editor.
What is the source for this?
National Coverage Determination 210.9: Screening for Depression in Adults — Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (2011). The full source is linked on this page so you can read it yourself.
Is this medical advice?
This is information to bring to your prescriber, not medical advice and not a reason to change anything on your own. Nothing here is an instruction to stop or reduce a medication. If you are in crisis, call or text 988.
This is information to bring to your prescriber, not medical advice and not a reason to change anything on your own. Nothing here is an instruction to stop or reduce a medication. If you are in crisis, call or text 988.