AARP/UHC Renew Active change for 2025

[js22]

I was told by The Exercise Coach this morning that AARP/UHC has removed them as a gym for Renew Active for 2025.

I have looked online at Medicare.gov  as well as the AARP/UHC Plan G for 2025 but not seeing anything that specifies that there will be changes for 2025, other than premium.

I called AARP/UHC customer service and was assured that The Exercise Coach  was still an available gym for me for 2025.

I found a YouTube video that talks about 2025 changes to renew active. He read a letter that UHC sent to a renew active member over 2 weeks ago. What it stated was that gyms listed as premium locations will no longer be part of Renew Active. The YouTube video is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1gEIIHEES70 about the 3:39 time mark. He did do a follow up video that indicated that removal of premium gyms was location based.

I have not received any communication from AARP/UHC about this. I emailed them to ask if it is true that premium gyms are being dropped and how do we know what locations are keeping premium gyms for Renew Active.

[cyndibritton]

Just spent over 31 minutes trying to get an answer and can't get anywhere. They are useless. Can't tell me anything about who is in charge of Renew Active. What a joke. Total chaos on how this happened and why. It is hard to believe that these clubs do not want this vast amount of business. Infuriating. Each side blames the other. 

[JillR908616]

Seems to me that if you buy your UHC plan from AARP, you should complain to them about it as well. That is why I went to Calpers, since they are the company that offers this to me. It VERY infuriating. 

[e855323b]

i submitted my complaint through the contact button on the website.  ChatGPT was very helpful in crafting my response

[e855323b]

Does anyone have a specific email address to lodge a complaint with UHC for eliminating these programs?  I'm concerned a message to the general address will just get lost.  Thanks.

[SabineS909407]

You can file a complaint on the Website: myAARPMedicare.com (under Contact us at the bottom of the Homepage) or call 1-800-523-5800. I did both. The more people complain the better the chances of the reinstatement of Exercise Coach and StretchLab for Renew Active members.

[KarenG670834]

 For what it's worth: https://member.uhc.com/medicare/help#/contact-us-three has an online email submission option. Googling also came up with <clientserviceoperations@uhc.com>, also, "who knows?"

[SandraH34897]

thanks, i just did this.  I no longer see exercise coach or stretch labs on the list, but i was able to sign up for remaining december sessions.  Unfortunately, i wasn't able to sign up for classes at club pilates or yoga six for december, even though this wasn't supposed to start until Jan 1.  What a disappointment.

[js22]

At the exercise coach this morning I was told that some franchises will be offering discounted programs. I asked if I could post the sheet with the information, but she requested that I not do that since it is the choice of each franchise whether or not to offer it. So if you would like to continue, you should ask your local the exercise coach about the “exclusive offer for Renew Active clients.”

[JillR908616]

I just called the number on my card. You can ask to have your complaint escalated as well. They call it submitting a grievance and I was told that that’s probably the only way they may back off of this decision. They need to hear that we are all very unhappy about this. 

[CherylA596421]

I agree! I sent them an email, to let them know.  I will also call today.  

[DavidG962812]

I just spent 25 min on the phone with UHC to submit a grievance for my wife and me. The reps that answer your call don't have the details necessary to submit the grievance and put you on hold to check with a manager. Otherwise, they are very polite and have been told to talk about the other very good gyms in the area that they still cover.

We're moving to Aetna with Silver Sneakers that will cover our Lifetime Fitness membership in Atascocita, TX 

[MYCAH]

Nov 24   Posted on Renew active -     Starting Jan. 1, 2025, Orangetheory Fitness, The Exercise Coach and Xponential Fitness brands including Club Pilates, CycleBar, StretchLab, Rumble, Pure Barre and YogaSix will no longer be in the Renew Active fitness network.       I do not think UHC dropped them I think they dropped UHC  compensation not enough, and they need to reconcile at the end of each month to bill the insurance for the sessions,  probably a lot of work, not worth the trouble  

NO NOTICE FROM AARP or UHC,  I belong to Club pilates thur renew active, when were they going to tell us??

[js22]

You are very wrong. The exercise coach was very unhappy to be dropped by Renew Active. My local studio will lose 26 renew active members from their gym- that is a substantial number for a small studio.

someone in this thread had said they’d heard the exercise coach was negotiating with other insurance companies, so I did ask about that. And I was told by the owner of my studio that they are always negotiating with insurance companies.

[TRL1111]

Right--negotiation.  It sounds like Renew Active and the Exercise Coach couldn't come to an agreement.  I really doubt Renew Active would turn down the Exercise Coach's participation if the Exercise Coach was willing to accept a $1 reimbursement from Renew Active.  More likely Renew Active wanted to lower the reimbursement and the Exercise Coach refused to accept that, or the Exercise Coach wanted to have the reimbursement raised and Renew Active refused to accept it, so they parted ways.

[DavidG962812]

I suspect the negotiations were one sided. UHC Group is a multi-billion corporation with net earnings of ~$24B on ~$372B revenue in 2023. They are making decisions at the board level based on budget line items (ie: how to save money on gym memberships without irritating all of our subscribers, cut premium gyms and promote the other 17,000 regular gyms). They are not going to spend the time and incur the cost of negotiating with all the premium gym owners. It's a balance sheet issue for them.

As a comparison, Apple had similar revenues of ~$383B in 2023 but net income of ~$97B or 4 times higher than that of UHC. Or Chevron Corp had ~$200B revenue and ~$21B net income or 1.6 times higher (based on % of revenue). Whose CEO is under pressure to increase net income?

[LisaT742060]

Did they mention any other contracts they might be getting that is where I go?  Same thing mine was very upset, I have not heard yet if they’re getting on any other plan

[CtyGal]

As a Club Pilates and Stretch Lab RA member, I asked and have been told that Xponential (parent company) is looking at reduced membership pricing for Renew Active members so that don’t lose that book of business.Time will tell.

[PeggyA147789]

But WHEN will we know anything? Club Pilates requires a month’s notice to cancel membership. No one seems to be making any allowances for us having just been told of the change 

[SandraH34897]

Club Pilates (or any of these gyms) doesn't have my credit card.  They know I'm renew active.  Recently, my nearby Pure Barre shut down, and I called UHC/AARP to be sure i was removed... they said no action was necessary on my part.  Hope that helps.

[PeggyA147789]

 How do we find out how to do this?

[CtyGal]

I have been told we should hear something in the next few weeks.  Stretch Lab told me some pretty good pricing for a couple months…I encouraged them to make it permanent 🤔

[JenniferG108816]

Most owners are offering pricing close to the reimbursement rate of UHC.  Just ask your studio!! 

[PeggyA147789]

My studio says no price reduction. 

[JenniferG108816]

 I own StretchLabs. I assure you, this was not our decision. This has been a huge revenue loss for us and 1500 members of my studios that are affected by this decision. Other plans still offer StretchLab as a service - not sure what state you are in. It is through Optum and is provided by other plans such as Kaiser will still cover premium gyms. This is purely a United Healthcare decision. 

[SummerOnTheWay1]

[2/24/25] Thanks for this info Jennifer @JenniferG108816 !!!

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[*** @JenniferG108816 wrote:

 I own StretchLabs. I assure you, this was not our decision. This has been a huge revenue loss for us and 1500 members of my studios that are affected by this decision. Other plans still offer StretchLab as a service - not sure what state you are in. It is through Optum and is provided by other plans such as Kaiser will still cover premium gyms. This is purely a United Healthcare decision. ***]

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[TRL1111]

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@SummerOnTheWay1 wrote:

[2/24/25] Thanks for this info Jennifer @JenniferG108816 !!!

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Jennifer said it was not Stretch Lab's decision, but didn't offer any details.  She said it would be a huge revenue loss for her, which indicates that Renew Active was paying out huge money to Stretch Lab.  Did Renew Active just say, "We refuse to reimburse for any more sessions at any Stretch Lab, period," or was it "We can no longer agree to pay what we've been paying, and want to renegotiate our reimbursement amount" and Stretch Lab and Renew Active could not agree on a number? 

I tend to think it's the latter because Stretch Lab is owned by the same company (Xponential) that franchises the majority of the other premium gyms that Renew Active dropped (Club Pilates, Pure Barre, Yoga Six), and I know that in the case of Club Pilates, it was costing Renew Active $31 every time a member took a 1-hour class.  I don't know what Stretch Lab got paid, but it's owned by the same company so I assume it's in the same ballpark. 

I can't believe Renew Active ever agreed to that amount--they must have never dreamed people would jump on it like they did.  I certainly did.  Over the last 2-1/2 years, Renew Active paid Club Pilates about $9,000 on my behalf, and that's just Club Pilates--I went to Stretch Lab probably 20 times or so, plus a bunch of YMCAs and other gyms, as well (which get reimbursed nowhere near the $31, but it does add up).  That's obviously not sustainable.

I don't think we'll ever know what happened between Renew Active and Stretch Lab and its kin.  I do know that I've had a couple of YMCAs drop Renew Active at random times, and the Y's notice was never couched in terms of "Renew Active refuses to offer memberships to our gym"; instead, it was more along the lines that Renew Active's reimbursement rates weren't acceptable to the Y, so they dropped out. 

That's why I think dropping Stretch Lab and its kin wasn't the unilateral decision by UHC/Renew Active that the gyms describe, but instead a failure to come to terms.  If Stretch Lab had said, "We'll participate in Renew Active for a reimbursement of $1 per session," I can't imagine Renew Active would have turned it down.  

Maybe individual franchisees like Jennifer didn't have a say in the decision, but that doesn't mean Xponential didn't.  And maybe Xponential told their unhappy franchisees that they didn't have a choice, but was that because Xponential refused to accept what Renew Active was offering?  And it was interpreted as having no say in the decision?

I just find it hard to believe that Renew Active looked at the Xponential brands and said, "We don't like you and we're not going to work with you any more, even if we would make a ton of money because we have to pay you only $1 for each session."

[PeggyA147789]

 Interesting. United is blaming the programs. 

[TerriM890870]

• The inflation reduction act is causing companies to make changes to try and recoup . They are doing this by cutting out extras such as gyms. Its a loss for us all and has resulted in unintended consequences. Thank heavens, we’re getting new leadership in Washington.

[Charlien24]

I don't see the connection. Please explain.

[GailL1]

@Charlien24 

See my post to @KathrynH488719  below - I tried to explain it