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Does Medicare cover Pap smears?

Yes. Medicare Part B covers Pap tests and pelvic exams as a screening benefit. Most women are covered once every two years; some qualify once a year. You pay nothing if the provider accepts assignment. The date of your last covered test is what decides whether the next one is paid.

This page is about Pap tests. For how often Medicare pays for blood work and other lab tests, see our free chart of Medicare's screening schedules.

What Medicare covers

Medicare.gov: "Part B covers Pap tests and pelvic exams." Medicare's coding chart lists the benefit as "Screening Pap Test" under national coverage policy NCD 210.2, and says who is covered in four words: "Female patients with Medicare Part B."

The chart describes the lab side of the test, for example code G0123, as "Screening cytopathology, cervical or vaginal ... automated thin layer preparation, screening by cytotechnologist under physician supervision." The office side, code Q0091, is "Screening Papanicolaou smear; obtaining, preparing and conveyance of cervical or vaginal smear to laboratory." In plain words, one code is for collecting the sample and one is for reading it.

Once every 24 months, or once every 12

Medicare.gov: "Part B covers these screening tests once every 24 months in most cases." And: "If you're at high risk for cervical or vaginal cancer, or if you're of child-bearing age and had an abnormal Pap test in the past 36 months, Part B covers these screening tests once every 12 months."

Medicare counts the months in a particular way. Its coding chart says the test is covered "Every 2 years (or 23 months after the month of the last covered exam) for low-risk women," and "Annually (or 11 months after the month of the last covered exam) for women at high risk for developing cervical or vaginal cancer or of childbearing age with abnormal Pap test within the past 3 years." The count starts from the month of the last covered exam, not the day. A Pap done in March 2024 is next covered, for a low-risk woman, in February 2026.

Who counts as high risk

Medicare.gov does not define "high risk" on its page. Medicare's coding chart does it with diagnosis codes. The claim for a yearly Pap has to carry one of the codes on the chart's high-risk list (for example R87.612, Z72.51, or Z92.89). The claim for a two-year Pap carries one of the codes on the low-risk list (for example Z01.411, Z01.419, or Z12.4). Which code goes on your claim is your doctor's call, based on your history. If your order says "high risk," that is what it means: your doctor has a reason on the list.

Is there an age limit?

Two different bodies answer this two different ways, and it helps to keep them apart.

Medicare's rule. Medicare.gov's page on this benefit states no age limit. The 24-month and 12-month intervals come from Medicare's own rules, not from a task force.

The task force's recommendation. The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, in its August 21, 2018 recommendation (Grade A), says women 30 to 65 can be screened "every 3 years with cytology alone, every 5 years with hrHPV testing alone, or in combination." Cytology is the Pap test. For women over 65, and for women who have had a hysterectomy, the task force gives a Grade D, its rating for recommending against a service. The task force published a draft update on December 10, 2024; its site still says the topic is being updated, so the 2018 recommendation is the current one.

These are two different things. The task force says how often it thinks women should be screened and until what age. Medicare says how often it will pay. Whether you should have a Pap test is a question for your doctor, not for this page.

What you pay

Medicare.gov: "If your doctor or other health care provider accepts assignment, you pay nothing." Medicare's coding chart says the same thing in billing language: "No copayment, coinsurance, or deductible."

The pelvic exam

The pelvic exam is billed as its own service, code G0101, and has its own entry on Medicare's chart. The rules are the same as for the Pap test: every 24 months in most cases, every 12 months for high risk or an abnormal Pap in the past 36 months, and nothing to pay when the provider accepts assignment.

Adding an HPV test

Medicare.gov: "Part B also covers Human Papillomavirus (HPV) tests (as part of a Pap test) once every 5 years if you're between 30-65 and don't have HPV symptoms." That is a separate benefit with its own age rule and its own clock. It is explained on Does Medicare cover an HPV test?

The codes

For anyone reading a bill or an order: the Pap test codes on Medicare's chart are G0123, G0124, G0141, G0143, G0144, G0145, G0147, G0148, P3000, P3001, and Q0091; the pelvic exam is G0101. The chart's high-risk diagnosis list is R87.612, R87.810, Z72.51, Z72.52, Z72.53, Z77.29, Z77.9, Z84.A, Z91.89, Z91.B, Z92.850, Z92.858, Z92.86, and Z92.89; the low-risk list is Z01.411, Z01.419, Z12.4, Z12.72, Z12.79, and Z12.89.

Before you go

This is ClaraCover's checklist, built from the rules above. Three questions for the office that books the appointment.

1. "What was the date of my last covered Pap test?" Medicare counts 23 full months after that month for most women, and 11 months for high risk.
2. "Does the order say high risk?" If you are coming back after one year, the claim needs a code from the high-risk list. If it does not carry one, the yearly test is outside the rule.
3. "Is an HPV test being added?" If so, it has its own rules: once every 5 years, ages 30 to 65, as part of a Pap test. Ask whether the provider accepts assignment for both.

Sources

• Medicare.gov: Cervical & vaginal cancer screenings
• CMS: Medicare Preventive Services educational tool (MLN006559, July 2026), Screening Pap Test and Screening Pelvic Examination entries (NCD 210.2)
• U.S. Preventive Services Task Force: Cervical Cancer, Screening (final recommendation dated August 21, 2018)
• U.S. Preventive Services Task Force: Cervical Cancer, Screening (draft recommendation dated December 10, 2024)

Checked September 27, 2026. This page explains published Medicare rules. It is not medical or insurance advice, does not say who should have a Pap test or how often, and cannot tell you whether your own test will be covered; your doctor's office and Medicare can. ClaraCover has no relationship with any provider or plan.