It isn’t unheard of for certain types of health insurance plans to offer to cover the cost of a policyholder’s gym membership. However, it is a relatively new thing for this to be offered in Medicare Advantage plans. Some say this will help seniors stay healthy. Other say it will push extra costs to the regular Medicare program.
When I think of health insurance plans that cover the cost of gym memberships, I usually think of the employer sponsored ones that are offered to employees of large businesses. I think of the companies who have an on-site gym that employees can use whenever they want to. What doesn’t come to mind when I think about gym memberships are the Medicare Advantage plans.
Medicare is a federally run health insurance program for people who are age 65 and older. A person who has become eligible for Medicare automatically gets what is called Part A, but would have to opt-in to Part B. Part A covers things like inpatient care in hospitals, and helps to cover care from skilled nursing facilities, hospices, and home health care. Part B covers things like doctors’ visits, outpatient care, medical equipment, and some preventative services.
Part C is also called Medicare Advantage. This is run through private insurance companies that have been approved to sell these types of policies. It gives people everything that Part A and Part B would. Most of them also cover prescription drugs, (which would be called Part D in the government run form of Medicare).
Some private insurers are offering Medicare Advantage plans that will cover a person’s gym membership.
Insurers want to do this for several reasons, most of which have to do with cost. Ideally, all health insurance companies want to attract plenty of healthy customers. That group will be the least expensive for the insurer to cover. Offering coverage of a gym membership could encourage seniors to go to the gym, exercise, and stay healthy.
On the other hand, some feel that offering coverage of gym memberships is dangerous. Not all seniors are healthy enough to use a gym membership by the time they become eligible for Medicare. This means that the private insurers will attract the healthiest seniors, who can then use the gym membership to help themselves stay healthy.
Some believe that the result would be that the healthiest, and least expensive to insure, seniors will choose to use Medicare Advantage plans. The seniors who have serious health issues, on the other hand, may not be able to use a gym membership. Since that wouldn’t be a “selling point” to them, it is assumed that this group will go with the federally run form of Medicare. In other words, those who are the most expensive to insure will be using the government program. There is potential that costs could rise.
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