Joining a gym via health insurance?

[badatmath]

Not medicare, if it matters, but my retiree plan has a "thing" for $19 a month I can go to xyz gyms near me supposedly without getting involved in all their weird gym fees and cancellation policies.

I have not ever joined a gym to begin with but is this the way to do it to avoid being locked in? I have always heard horror stories how hard it is to cancel those things and of course annual fees in addition to the membership. I really don't know though. I don't actually know anyone IRL* that I can think of that goes to a gym so thought I'd ask here.

*Well probably I do but they don't tell me because they know my lazy a** isn't likely to go LOL. But it is AZ and getting hot. . .

 

[Aerides]

I used one of those programs a while back, worked as advertised without me actually having to join the gym directly. I think I had to show them my plan membership thing the first time, but then I was golden. Basically avoided the whole sign up and "initiation" fee. No lock in, and cancelled over the phone in 2020.

 

[W2R]

My insurance doesn't pay for my gym. I have belonged to it off and on (mostly on) for the past two decades. My gym automatically deducts my fees from my checking account. These are monthly fees and they charge nothing else on a regular basis; there are no annual fees. I never had the slightest problem getting them to stop immediately whenever I wanted that to happen. But, this is the only gym I have ever belonged to so maybe other gyms are different. Last week I re-joined after 7 years off, and I did have to pay a $75 initiation fee.

Frank's insurance pays for all of his gym fees (at the same gym), so he doesn't have to pay a cent.

 

[Dash man]

I know my Medicare supplement (AARP/UHC) allows me to join several gyms in the area, including the YMCA. My cardiologist is pushing me to join for the water workouts. I may check it out.

 

[erkevin]

My old insurance had Silver Sneakers as a benefit. I belonged to four different gyms (free) and never got bored!! Loved it.

 

[Koolau]

My old insurance had Silver Sneakers as a benefit. I belonged to four different gyms (free) and never got bored!! Loved it.

We had the Silver Sneakers deal as well. Unfortunately, both gyms we joined went out of business when Covid hit.

 

[Healthy Lifestyle]

I know my Medicare supplement (AARP/UHC) allows me to join several gyms in the area, including the YMCA. My cardiologist is pushing me to join for the water workouts. I may check it out.

I also have Medicare supplement (AARP/UHC) which pays for my gym membership. However, I am not sure that I can join more than one gym at a time.? Sounds like it might be too costly for insurance company.

 

[levindb]

UHC has a program called RENEW ACTIVE, similar to Silver Sneakers. We pay nothing to go to Orange Theory 8 times/month. It seems the more you exercise, the less you visit your doctors...so, UHC considers it a good investment.

Once you logon to UHC, you will find your RENEW ACTIVE code, and then you give that to one of the gyms that are part of the UHC program. They bill UHC, so we do not pay anything.

Sort of like investing in your future...it is money in the bank.

 

[Koolau]

I also have Medicare supplement (AARP/UHC) which pays for my gym membership. However, I am not sure that I can join more than one gym at a time.? Sounds like it might be too costly for insurance company.

IIRC visits were charged to the insurance company each time.

 

[Aerides]

OP sounds like not a medicare or actual insurance program, but it's one of their "partner offer" things.

You sign up at a discounted rate negotiated with the insurance, but after that it's all independent. The insurance doesn't link after they hand you over.

The good part is the gym doesn't either. The program is a middle man to link insured people to gyms.

 

[fosterscik]

UHC has a program called RENEW ACTIVE, similar to Silver Sneakers. We pay nothing to go to Orange Theory 8 times/month. It seems the more you exercise, the less you visit your doctors...so, UHC considers it a good investment.

Once you logon to UHC, you will find your RENEW ACTIVE code, and then you give that to one of the gyms that are part of the UHC program. They bill UHC, so we do not pay anything.

Sort of like investing in your future...it is money in the bank.

We have that too. In our case we can go to any of the branches of the local YMCA. We mostly use it to swim in the pools but they have all the usual exercise equipment, squash and racquetball courts, weight machines etc. Without UHC/AARP it would cost $68/month for a retired couple - and we were paying to attend before medicare came around!

 

[aaronc879]

I have never heard of this before but it seems like a good deal so I would go for it. If you are new to working out it may be a good idea to get a personal trainer at least for the first couple sessions. Good luck.

 

[badatmath]

It isn't free, but it is not expensive either and appears to avoid all the initiation stuff and no contracts. I think I can go to more than one gym around - I will have to re-read if I decide to sign up.

Probably overthinking a little since I can't really picture myself in a gym! Still never know if I don't try it.

 

[Aerides]

Probably overthinking a little since I can't really picture myself in a gym! Still never know if I don't try it.

Most any gym will give you a 3-7 day free pass to check it out.

 

[PaunchyPirate]

I have had a similar benefit from my ACA health insurance plans every year for the last 4 years. They use a partner company to administer it. I quit it when Covid shut down the gyms and have not yet restarted it. Mine was $25 per month. My local YMCA was covered, so that's the one I used. Billing was done by the partner company every month. I could quit at any time. I think they billed me for the first and last month in advance and then $25 monthly. I had to fill out a little paperwork at the YMCA, but once I told them the partner plan I was hoping to use, they knew exactly what to do.

The $25 rate was less expensive than the YMCA's normal rate.

 

[aaronc879]

You sound like you are new to working out. I HIGHLY recommend taking it slow the first week or two otherwise you could get VERY sore.

 

[athena53]

I had a UHC supplement that offered a membership to Planet Fitness. At the time it was $10/month. I paid $20/month for a membership that let me use any PF anywhere and paid the extra $10 out of my checking account. They don't require contracts but they do charge an annual fee of $42, which makes the monthly cost higher than it looks!

I was perfectly happy with them till early 2021, after they'd opened up again but they were ignoring local mask ordinances. I wrote a tactful letter to the managers of 3 of the branches explaining my concern that they were not enforcing local laws and they terminated my membership.

I've now found on-line workout videos I like.

 

[qwerty3656]

Planet fitness is around $10 a month

 

[pacergal]

When I was working, our employer had a similar "partnership" with various gyms, slight discount on monthly fees and avoided the initial sign up fee.

with medicare, we have access to a local gym, free to us, just have to show up a minimum number of times each month or its cancelled.

 

[wrigley]

Planet fitness is around $10 a month

Second that..........Planet Fitness. $10 a month, $49 once a year fee, cancel anytime you like.

Mike

 

[Time2]

Second that..........Planet Fitness. $10 a month, $49 once a year fee, cancel anytime you like.

Mike

So actually $14.08 per month if you stay for a year. If you quit after 6 months it would be $18.16 per month, a little incentive to keep going I guess.
Just my little pet peeve, that they advertise $10 a month with $1 down. That's $1 down on the extra $49 they charge. A bit of trickery if you ask me.
That said, if you use a gym it is the best deal around and I get it through my insurance company, meaning I pay for it whether I use it or not.

 

[athena53]

So actually $14.08 per month if you stay for a year. If you quit after 6 months it would be $18.16 per month, a little incentive to keep going I guess.
Just my little pet peeve, that they advertise $10 a month with $1 down. That's $1 down on the extra $49 they charge. A bit of trickery if you ask me.
That said, if you use a gym it is the best deal around and I get it through my insurance company, meaning I pay for it whether I use it or not.

I agree. It was a pet peeve of mine as well. They display the $9.95/month prominently and that hasn't changed. I see, though, that the annual junk fee has gone from $42 to $49 in the 2 years since I left. Still a good deal and if I were to join a gym again I'd start there first. The people at the front desk in my local club tell me that the woman who signed the document terminating my membership no longer works there. They were surprised to learn why I was no longer there- I was working out daily unless I was out of town.

 

[badatmath]

I think it should be illegal the way these places seem to have hidden fees and make it hard to cancel. You should be able to follow a simple process to enroll/leave/pay. But granted I am not speaking from experience here only "rumors".

That is my excuse for never joining one - it couldn't be that I was lazy and cheap too LOL.

 

[Pluperfect]

I also have Medicare supplement (AARP/UHC) which pays for my gym membership. However, I am not sure that I can join more than one gym at a time.? Sounds like it might be too costly for insurance company.

When I was getting my Medicare supplement last year, choosing a high-deductible Plan G made sense for me financially, but I couldn't get one that also has gym benefits, so I was having to choose between the two. So I questioned AARP/UHC thoroughly about how Renew Active works.

I assumed that instead of my paying a gym $10 for a day pass, I'd give they gym my Renew Active number and that would pay for the day pass. But that's not how it works. At each gym, I have to go through the process of signing up for a membership, but neither I nor Renew Active pays for the membership. Instead, Renew Active pays the gym every time I scan my key tag. So the gym signs me up as a member but gets paid like I bought a day pass.

Because I travel fulltime, I specifically asked Renew Active (or, actually, an AARP/UHC supervisor--there doesn't appear to be a separate Renew Active set of people) if they really wanted me to be a member of dozens of gyms instead of getting day passes, and she said yes.

I'm a member of six different YMCAs, in Illinois, Florida, Alabama, and Tennessee. Each YMCA membership works at any branch in their geographic area, but the Tampa YMCA membership doesn't work in Orlando, for example.

As for being in one area, which is how most people live, in Tampa I had memberships at three locations at the same intersection--a hospital fitness center, Club Pilates, and Crunch. I also had memberships at Esporta (LA Fitness), the Tampa YMCA, and StretchLab, and used all of these on a regular basis while I was in Tampa.

Most of the "national" memberships work anywhere, like LA Fitness and Crunch and Anytime Fitness. Planet Fitness is an outlier--I stopped in to sign up at one just to have it available, and was told my Renew Active code got me the membership that works only at that particular location. She offered the upgrade that athena53 mentioned--$10 out of my pocket to have access to any PF anywhere--but I declined. She also said that not all PF locations participate in Renew Active at all (e.g. the one in the next town over doesn't).

If you read reviews of gyms, the majority of the bad ones are complaining about the financial side (cancelling a contract, stopping automatic withdrawals), so having a membership with a gym that doesn't allow them access to your credit card or bank account would be a big benefit.

 

[Walt34]

I think it should be illegal the way these places seem to have hidden fees and make it hard to cancel.

An easy way out of the "hard to cancel" nonsense is to use a credit card that allows you to create a "virtual card" that is only valid at that merchant and you can make that virtual card disappear with a few mouse clicks. I have a Capital One card that allows that and I think Chase does it too.

So to cancel, you tell them you're going to cancel, and then the only credit card they have for you no longer exists. Makes it kind of hard for them to keep charging it.