The red-white-and-blue Medicare bus rolled into metro Denver on Tuesday, carrying the message that a dollar of prevention is worth $9 of cure.

Seniors can get 15 preventive screenings for free or at low cost, including a new benefit, a "Welcome to Medicare" physical exam when they turn 65.

Yet, just one in 10 seniors gets each prevention screening that would help, said Diane Livesay, acting deputy regional administrator for Medicare and Medicaid in the six-state region that includes Colorado.

"It's alarming how many people don't take advantage" of the free screenings, Livesay said. "We still have 35,000 people die of the flu each year, yet one in three seniors doesn't get a flu shot annually."

She noted that only about half of the seniors with diabetes get screened for it.

And she said that three out of every four health dollars in the U.S. go toward chronic diseases, many of them, such as Type II diabetes, largely preventable.

Officials for the medical equipment manufacturer Hologic, the largest maker of mammography systems and bone-density detectors, say it is duplicitous for Medicare to be promoting prevention on a nationwide tour, while cutting reimbursements given to clinics offering those services.

Livesay said that it's always tough when reimbursements are cut.

"But we know we're competing with everything else" when Congress juggles the budget, she said.

The Medicare bus stopped at several metro-area locations, including the Denver Botanic Gardens, where 300 seniors were doing Tai chi. It will be in Wyoming today.

About 80 million Americans are on either Medicare, the government-sponsored health care for those older than 65, or Medicaid, the state-and-federal program for the poor and disabled.

Shots and tests

A sample of what's available, and how often, for those over 65:

• Flu shot, once a season

• Pneumonia shot, once a season

• Colorectal screens, ask doctor how often

• Free physical, once after age 65

• Diabetes blood sugar screen, depends on risk

• Mammogram, once a year for women over 40

Information: Sign up at mymedicare.gov or call 1-800-633-4227.Center For Medicare, Medicaid Services

scanlon@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-442-8729