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.

[sm13058948]

Hey Cheryl. Thx for signing and do appreciate the suggestion on clarifying the named inclusion of other gyms. 

The order of these replies seems like what I wrote about not signing was not directed at you and your comment but was not. I replied to a person that wrote several times that this did not pertain to them so I just asked that they move on. 

I took my flyer with QR code of my petition this morning to a seniors class I teach. One lady said well it probably will not help - arrrgh - then why try anything? 

Im just trying to channel this angst into a form we can cohesively share, even if it doesn’t help… 

[sm13058948]

Then don’t sign and move on because this does not pertain to you… but as I said, in Charlotte, all of my YMCAs will go away. 

The operative wording is “Premium Locations”

[TRL1111]

From what I can tell, the YMCAs in Charlotte aren't in Silver Sneakers, either.  That leads me to believe it's the Y in Charlotte that's deciding not to participate.

[sm13058948]

Not true -the Ys in Charlotte just found out and are not happy about their senior members they care about …

[TRL1111]

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@sm13058948 wrote:

Not true -the Ys in Charlotte just found out and are not happy about their senior members they care about …

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But if they care about their senior members, why don't they participate in Silver Sneakers?  Since Renew Active is available only through one insurance carrier, I would guess there are a LOT more Silver Sneakers members out there than Renew Active.  Its strange that they'd receive the same cold shoulder from Silver Sneakers that they're getting from Renew Active.

Who are you talking to at the Y about this?  They've said that Renew Active is dropping them and the Y has no say whatsoever in the decision?  Did they try to negotiate on the price?  It makes no sense for Renew Active to say to the YMCAs in Charlotte, "We hate you and refuse to let our members use your facilities, no matter what you do or say."

FWIW, a couple of years ago I talked to a membership director at a YMCA.  I'd scanned my key tag, but the class was cancelled because the teacher didn't show up, and I was concerned that Renew Active was going to have to pay for a visit I didn't actually do. 

He gave me some details about his Y's payment agreement with Renew Active, and it sounded like a terrible deal to me--Renew Active was paying for a maximum number of visits per Renew Active member per month, and anything over that the Y didn't get paid for, but they still let people come.  So I was not surprised when about a year later, I was notified that this YMCA was no longer participating in Renew Active. 

Maybe it was a situation like Renew Active offering Club Pilates and Orangetheory memberships, and later realizing it was costing them much more money than they expected.  The Y obviously agreed to be paid for only X visits per member per month, so they can't have been expecting people to be coming multiples of X times per month.  I would blame pickleball, but this location didn't offer it.  😀 

[DavidG962812]

My wife and I will have Silver Sneakers in 2025 in order to continue playing pickleball at Lifetime Fitness 😁. We also had memberships at the YMCA. I must check if Silver Sneakers covers them in 2025 also. I'm sure physical location has something to do with all of this. Obviously, locations in NY or DC would have much higher dues than others.

[DavidG962812]

Exactly! Of the 20 YMCA's in the greater Houston area all are Premium Locations.

[TRL1111]

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@DavidG962812 wrote:

Exactly! Of the 20 YMCA's in the greater Houston area all are Premium Locations.

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I'm curious.  In my letter from "AARP Medicare Supplement from UnitedHealthcare," it listed the gyms I've been to that would no longer be in the Renew Active network, and it's the usual suspects:  Club Pilates, Orangetheory, and StretchLab.

In the letter you got, did it include the YMCAs among the gyms you've visited and will no longer be part of the network effective 1-1-25?

I ask because my letter doesn't include some gyms that are (and have always been) listed as "premium" locations on Renew Active's website, which would mean they're not leaving the network.  If they were leaving the network, Renew Active knows I belong to them, and would/should have listed them, right?  I'm actually wondering if Renew Active was using the word "premium" in their early notifications/discussions as a shortcut for gyms owned by Xponential (Club Pilates, StretchLab, etc.), plus Orangetheory plus the Exercise Coach, which are the big dogs among premium locations, but there are other "premium" gyms that perhaps aren't leaving the network?

The letter I got doesn't use the word "premium" at all, as a matter of fact.  And for the two YMCAs that I belonged to that left Renew Active last year (one in January and one in May), I got a letter (from either Renew Active or AARP United Healthcare, not from the YMCA) notifying me that the gym was leaving the network effective a certain date.  I haven't received any notification about any of the ten or so other YMCAs I belong to around the country, including one that I see is now listed as "premium" on Renew Active's website.

Has anyone been contacted individually and been told that a particular YMCA they're currently a member of, and that has been bumped up to "premium," will no longer be in the Renew Active network as of 1-1-25?  Or are people just assuming it won't because of Renew Active's possibly sloppy use of the word "premium"?

(My apologies if someone has answered this somewhere else in this thread, but I'm having a terrible time trying to navigate this forum, with new posts embedded in with old ones.)

[DavidG962812]

No. Our letters from UHC (my wife & I) only stated that gyms we might be members of through Renew Active would no longer be covered in 2025 and we could determine which ones by checking the online Renew Active list of gyms for 2025. Any gyms shown as Premium would no longer be covered. We are members of Lifetime Fitness and the YMCA. Both were indicated as Premium. Additionally, when I spoke with UHC they confirmed that Lifetime & the YMCA were still listed online covered for 2025 as Premium for my Advantage plan (same as for 2024) even though they would not be. They hoped to have their webpages updated in early December. The lesson here is don't believe what you see on their website. Call UHC, Renew Active and the Gym to verify.

[TRL1111]

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@DavidG962812 wrote:

No. Our letters from UHC (my wife & I) only stated that gyms we might be members of through Renew Active would no longer be covered in 2025 and we could determine which ones by checking the online Renew Active list of gyms for 2025. Any gyms shown as Premium would no longer be covered.

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My letter didn't say anything about premium gyms being excluded.  It just said that the three that were listed wouldn't be available any more, and sure enough, none of them are on the current Renew Active list of gyms.

Now I'm wondering if it's possible Advantage plans are losing access to locations that are identified as "premium," but supplements aren't?  The letters you (Advantage) and I (supplement) got are apparently quite different.  Is there a reason for that, or is it just sloppy work?

Further confounding me is that Renew Active has removed Orange Theory and the Xponential brands from their online list of gyms even though my membership there is still in effect.  And there's no doubt they will not be part of Renew Active in 2025.  But Renew Active could just as easily have removed every gym identified as "premium," but didn't.  Was it a choice to remove some "premium" gyms but not others, and if so, what was the reason?

It's no doubt a fool's errand to try to figure out what's going on by gleaning policy from actions that they might not even realize are so confusing.  I can't do anything about it anyway, so I'm going to wait until after the first of the year and see if there are still premium locations listed on the website (why would there be if nobody can go to them?).  But probably more importantly, I'll see if Lifetime lets me in, or if the independent boutique studio I belong to (also listed as "premium") adds credits to my account.

[DonaldB3767]

Yes that is correct.
Lifetime Fitness here in Raleigh says that they Medicare Advantage members will have to pay $100 a month extra to continue at limited hours, or $130 a month at unlimited hours.

Medicare Supplement Plan users will continue as is, free of extra charge, on limited hours.

[DavidG962812]

We received an email from Chris with Lifetime offering $89/mo for a restricted membership but there was a time limit to accept. Possibly Dec 1st.

[CherylA596421]

I am happy to sign the petition, however, could you please edit it to include all other Renew Active Members that are no longer members? Here is the complete list of the members that are no longer listed as Renew Active as of January 1, 2025:  OrangeTheory Fitness, The Exercise coach, Club Pilates, Pure Barre, Yoga Six, CycleBar, StretchLab, and Rumble.

[CherylS13507]

   I was a member at StretchLab and loved it. Happy to sign petition.

[LisaT742060]

I saw ASH covers most of the premium gyms. Anyone know this program supplemental. Looks like Cigna provides this

[Texasstarr]

I’ll be looking at Cigna next year. I already changed my drug plan to Cigna after UHC doubled my monthly premiums. UHC should be adding benefits, not taking them away. I used Club Pilates for 3 months and got in the groove of exercising, and now they take it away!

[TRL1111]

It's called Silver & Fit and has been discussed in this thread.  It provides members a discount at premium gyms, not free membership like Renew Active did.  Good luck finding out what the discounted membership would cost--somebody here has tried and been completely unsuccessful.

[LisaT742060]

I had an interesting conversation at the EXERCISE COACH today, who knows what the truth is. I was told they could not come to agreement on the pricing with United healthcare

[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.”

[TRL1111]

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@LisaT742060 wrote:

I had an interesting conversation at the EXERCISE COACH today, who knows what the truth is. I was told they could not come to agreement on the pricing with United healthcare

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That was my conjecture in another post.  I'm sure Renew Active would love to have Club Pilates in their network, if Club Pilates would accept a $1 payment for every Renew Active visit.  But there's obviously no way Club Pilates would accept that.  It seems pretty clear to me that Club Pilates (and other Xponential brands) were unwilling to accept whatever it is Renew Active was offering to pay starting in 2025.  Which...both Renew Active and Club Pilates have to offer/accept amounts that work for their business.  It looks like those numbers became too far apart, so they're both walking away.

[sm13058948]

I changed it but the title can only handle a finite amount of characters but according to the UHC letter, it is all termed “Premium Locations”

but it is all included in the body of the petition…

Here is a flyer you can print and take to your “Premium Locations” to have others sign.

[CherylA596421]

I signed it!  

[sm13058948]

Surely - although petition says, “and other Premium Locations”

[sm13058948]

Here is QR code you can save to your phone or print and take with you. It will go directly to petition link. I will take this to my YMCA in person so other members can sign. 

I tried to share code but AARP removed it (probably for security reasons…

Although I appreciate great ideas, please if you have one, share the petition with the link, QR code, etc at your gym and on your social media 

[GailL1]

You might also try posting your petition drive on Reddit too because if seems UHC removing some of these special gyms from the Renew Active program is also a hot discussion on Reddit.

Reddit - Aarp canceled orangetheory 

[Winter2025VA]

[2/24/25] Excellent suggestion @GailL1 !!!

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[*** @GailL1 wrote:

You might also try posting your petition drive on Reddit too because if seems UHC removing some of these special gyms from the Renew Active program is also a hot discussion on Reddit.

Reddit - Aarp canceled orangetheory ***]

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[sm13058948]

Thank you - I did post on several threads on Reddit. And on Facebook.

Please share the link. And ask everyone to sign

[CherylA596421]

I am disappointed to learn that the Renew Active plan will no longer covers Club Pilates and Pure Barre, as these were key reasons for my enrollment. Come on, AARP—you are supposed to support us! 

To AARP/United Health Care Renew Active -- please reconsider and put them back on the list. 

[PeggyA147789]

  I feel the same way! I am going to have to cancel my Club Pilates membership. It feels like a bait and switch. We sign up for AARP/United for specific reasons and then they arbitrarily cancel these sort of benefits. I called United. They could care less. And where is AARP in this fight? Like so many other issues, I've found AARP to be bascially ineffective and worthless! Perhaps they could show some good faith and help fight to get this benefit back.

[PeggyA147789]

  Something I forgot to mention - if I now want to cancel my Club Pilates membership, I have to do it by Dec 1 because you must give 30 days notice. Such BS because United/AARP just told us about the change this week!