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.

[hortensiaperez]

I am so upset about this. I have UHC only because of their Renew Active program’s premium gyms benefit. It may sound like a silly reason for many but the highlight of my UHC Medicare Advantage plan and the reason I chose UHC is  because of their Renew Active Fitness program due to it including the premium gyms such as OrangeTheory, Club Pilates, Lifetime etc. I have been taking advantage of this and feel strong and healthy because I attend the classes at OrangeTheory and Club Pilates and Lifetime. They are effective and motivating and it’s a great way for seniors to enjoy many of their classes and amenities. 

i am a fit and healthy 69 yo and going to the gym every day is a huge help to stay that way throughout my later years.  I am thankful that I am not on a bunch of prescription meds.
it appears that Medicare and the health insurance industry wants to “push” people to more prescription meds instead of helping seniors avoid that by being and staying fit and healthy. 

It is becoming more and more obvious that the “health” insurance industry is nothing about health. It’s all about their profits and their monetary relationship with big pharma.  So sad. 

[CherylA596421]

Club Pilates and Barre were the only reasons I went with AARP UHC. I am very disappointed too. There is really nothing premium at that level of expertise in their Renew Active. It's no different than what anyone else is offering. I hope they change their Renew Active.  The premiums continue to go up and you actually get less coverage.  

[BarbaraC621131]

Very well said, I am so disappointed in United healthcare for dropping RENEW ACTIVE  Club Pilates and other good gyms that make you feel healthy when you take advantage of the wonderful benefits. I will also look for another Insurance that has some type of gym memberships like Club Pilates. They’re gonna lose a lot of members in the United healthcare ‘s gonna lose a lot of clients

[TRL1111]

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@BarbaraC621131 wrote:

I will also look for another Insurance that has some type of gym memberships like Club Pilates. 

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Good luck.  You're going to need it, especially if you want the membership to be free.

[GailL1]

@hortensiaperez 

While you are at it, maybe go ahead and get the actual program of Medicare to support gym memberships and coaches - that way, everybody has a chance to partake.  

Even better, why not get the ACA health plans, perhaps even employer group health plan and government provided Medicaid to start covering gyms and exercise courses.

Get real - health care is for the most part the treatment of disease conditions or accidents -  even preventive care type things are measured as to their effectiveness for the broader population - Of course, it is advised that one not be sedimentary, but to also eat healthy and curtail ones vices to just occasionally.  

As you get older and find that you want to see a specific doctor or specialist, or be in the network of a particular hospital or treatment facility, or a med that you might need is on a specific plans formulary, then you will find that other things may take priority for your health.  

Medicare take care of lots of different people - some young and some old, even very old, some on disability, some on a limited budget, some with needs of transportation, some that may need very expensive, life long treatment.

This gym coverage is an auxiliary benefit - it doesn’t have anything to do with the health coverage of the plan itself.  It is a loss leader to get you to pick this plan with this auxiliary coverage.  Auxiliary type coverage isn’t mandated by Medicare and that includes the dental, vision or hearing wellness benefits also.  It is plainly disclosed in any policy whether a AARP/UHC plan or another one that these types of benefits are not health care coverage and thus can be removed or changed at any time.  So you have no protections in keeping these types of benefits.

If you want to keep them continuously going, I am afraid that you will have to purchase these types of benefits outside of the plan that can change or remove them.

That’s life.

[SandraH34897]

The issue isn't necessarily that they took this benefit away (although it is a huge blow, since i've waited for years to get free gym memberships once I started Medicare), but that they did it at the last hour.  My letter was dated 11/15, and we were out of town and didn't receive notice til 12/1... weeks after we had decided to stay with the current plan vs switching to Kaiser Advantage plan with OnePass, which appeared to have all the health club memberships I wanted, and was way less expensive...  We will definitely reconsider our choices again when Kaiser open enrollment opens up.

[BarbaraC621131]

This is a huge blow and I never received the letter terrible

[GailL1]

@SandraH34897 

You can change your MA plan between Jan 01 - March 31 that’s an enrollment specifically for changes to MA plans or to go back to Traditional Medicare. This is your Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period - and if you make it swiftly it can be effective the beginning of the next month.

Medicare.gov- Fact Sheet - Understanding Medicare Advantage & Medicare Drug Plan Enrollment Periods 

Whatever plan you choose, be sure to read the small print because the disclaimers for these auxiliary benefits usually include an option by the insurer to cancel them at any time - so just be in the know. 

[sg65301371]

You can also switch advantage plans Jan-mar

[Winter2025VA]

[2/24/25] @sg65301371 👍

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[*** @sg65301371 wrote:

You can also switch advantage plans Jan-Mar ***]

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[JamesJ803380]

info from OT:

Effective 1/1/2025, Orangetheory Fitness will no longer be included as a subsidized fitness benefit under United Healthcare's (UHC) Renew Active Medicare Supplemental Plan. UHC has made the decision to cut several premier studios and clubs, including OTF, from their Renew Active program. This decision is a result of ongoing Medicare funding reductions.

[BarbaraC621131]

Absolutely bad decision for seniors that want to stay healthy With the rising cost of United healthcare and then they cut Club Pilates and other great gyms that is so disturbing

[sm13058948]

I find it interesting, in a sad way, there are 6.5 amount of views compared to how many signed the petition…. 
Will it help ? Maybe not but all these disparate responses only act to dilute and divide….

As I said in another entry, a whopping 80% of denied insurance claims are never disputed, nor fought but sadly accepted. 

My push in this petition is not to fight a reality or policy that we will never win or change but to make a stand that it most resembles false advertising, as they could have let us know much earlier in open enrollment. You know they knew ….And that is way too much stress on Agents and we Insured who researched with the information we had, but were falsely led to believe our gyms would remain.

It is now my understanding only Premium Locations will be available to Medicare Supplement plans not Medicare Advantage Plans. 
But the petition is still valid because we need information to make intelligent decisions, and truth in advertising without waiting until 10 days before Open Enrollment ends. 

I will edit the Petition again to add the above, and a request to add another gym (although they are all under the umbrella “Premium Locations“)

Please don’t be in the apathetic 80%.
Please stop with the individual complaining. 

I ask that you sign, share and become a cohesive voice in holding them accountable- even if it may not work…

https://www.change.org/BringBackPremiumGymstoRenewActive2025

Thanks to all who have shared and signed

Suuz

[hortensiaperez]

Already signed petition. Thanks for starting it. 

does anyone know which other fitness program though another insurance company, covers premium gyms such as Club Pilates and Orangetheory?  

[LindaH436715]

Call this phone number to file a complaint!  800-328-5979.  I just spoke to a representative. I’m really upset about this as well…how can we stay healthy if they don’t really care?

[sm13058948]

Thank you for providing this number. I called, filed a complaint and had them provide me the best contact info to send my petition 

[TRL1111]

I'm not signing it because I'm not going to put my name to something that has misinformation in it. It says YMCAs will be excluded, and that's simply not true. The ones in some areas will be, but the vast majority will still be covered. Of the eleven I currently belong to around the country, only one is listed as "premium" (Knoxville, Tennessee). Miami, Orlando, Austin, Denver--none of those are premium.

So acknowledging that the vast majority of YMCAs aren't being dropped, as I said before, the 2025 Renew Active network is very similar to Silver Sneakers' network and nobody's making petitions to force Silver Sneakers to start covering Club Pilates memberships because seniors' lives depend on it.

And I'll say it again: If you're an Advantage member, you have another open enrollment period from January 1 - March 31. Although I have to say that picking an Advantage plan based only on the gym benefit might not be the wisest thing to do, because Advantage plans have their fingers all over your healthcare, and those can be life-or-death decisions.  Unlike with supplements, the insurance company does matter when it comes to Advantage plans, and not just when it comes to whether you can go to Orange Theory for free.

Or, if it's true that supplements will still have access to premium locations (something I speculated might be the case in another post), then change from Advantage to original Medicare in January, when people with supplements can confirm they have access to premium locations.

Oh, but a supplement will cost more than $0 a month and not give me a grocery card? Yep. It'll also get the middleman out from between you and your doctor AND give you a YMCA membership.  All decisions have trade-offs.

But what if Renew Active changes again next year? So what? Advantage members should be accustomed to changes in benefits, and you can just re-enroll in an Advantage plan during the next open enrollment.

[DavidG962812]

Wow, where to start. I signed because of the late notice for early enrolment that premium gyms were not covered in 2025 and the misleading information on UHC's website. So, folks that signup for a UHC Advantage plan in Dec may not realize until Jan that their gym is actually not covered because it is premium. The 20 YMCA's listed in the greater Houston are shown as premium for my plan (may be different for Supplemental plans). For me that's ever one that's accessible as I don't travel the country but there are many other premium gyms in my area that won't be covered either. Based on the majority of postings this seems to be the biggest issue folks have.

My wife and I have had UHC Advantage plans for 4 years now and have been very satisfied with them. We chose them, with help from our corporate retiree broker, based on acceptance of our doctors, co-pays, out of pocket maximums, drug costs, dental and fitness benefits were an added bonus. 

We are able to switch now in order to have coverage starting Jan 1st with a provider that has our doctors and equal or better medical coverage, as well as Silver Sneakers which will maintain our preferred premium gym. Why waste a month trying to do it in Jan or Feb and will the provider still offer the same benefits then.

Our new Advantage plan cost is $0 per month and the fitness plan will save us ~$2,200 per year in premium gym dues. So, that was a no brainer. Will Renew Active change back next year? May be so. We had 4 good years with them, but I won't switch back unless it becomes the best total coverage plan.

I don't know if people are complaining about Silver Sneakers or other fitness plan providers. I'm contributing to this posting because, per its title "AARP/UHC Renew Active change for 2025", it's specific to my complaint.

Sorry sm13058948 😁.

[CBtoo]

A little late to the party here but you need to be aware that your doctors/systems can drop out of any insurance network they want to. At least in Houston you have plenty of topnotch choices (unlike in many areas) so if your doctors/preferred health care system drops out you will still likely have plenty of good choices (this is not an issue per say with original medicare as you can go to any doctor/system that accepts medicare), 

The other thing you need to think through is what your maximum out of pocket will be if you get to a point in your life where you are actually using a lot of health care. Most of the plans have a pretty steep out of pocket- far more than paying for supplement G and the Medicare B deductible (not to mention if medicare pays for it then the supplement has to too). To be able to buy a supplement later in the game except in a few circumstances you have to pass medical underwriting to be able to do so (and they have two tiers of premiums - one which is really steep for if, for example, you have some diseases - you will outright fail with others).

It might be prudent to put all the money you are saving on premiums being in an advantage plan into a fund to use later when you start getting hit with major copays and thus have higher out of pocket expenses.

[TRL1111]

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@CBtoo wrote:

It might be prudent to put all the money you are saving on premiums being in an advantage plan into a fund to use later when you start getting hit with major copays and thus have higher out of pocket expenses.

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My impression is that where you can really get hit hard, and most likely reach your out-of-pocket maximum with an Advantage plan, is if you have cancer, because members face a 20% coinsurance on chemotherapy drugs.  Lots of people report having major surgery, even multiple major surgeries, and still not hitting the maximum OOP on their Advantage plan.  But cancer?  That 20% coinsurance really adds up.

But hardly anybody really thinks about their out-of-pocket exposure, never mind budgets for it.  That's why it's not at all uncommon for insurance agents to suggest a cancer policy in addition to an Advantage plan:  it pays you directly if you get cancer, and you can use that money to cover your out-of-pocket expenses for cancer treatment.

[sm13058948]

No need to apologize to me. 
I agree and made the petition because we need information to make intelligent decisions- and that was not done - and we all know they knew way before this ….

[Winter2025VA]

[2/24/25] @sm13058948 , any updates on your petition? Thanks, Nicole 👵

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[*** @sm13058948 wrote:

No need to apologize to me. 
I agree and made the petition because we need information to make intelligent decisions- and that was not done - and we all know they knew way before this …. ***]

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[TRL1111]

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@DavidG962812 wrote:

Why waste a month trying to do it in Jan or Feb and will the provider still offer the same benefits then.

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I don't recommend waiting a month, but all this moaning about having only a few days left of open enrollment causing such a hardship in researching other plans is kind of excessive, since another open enrollment period will begin on January 1, giving plenty of time to do the research and get signed up for a new plan effective February 1.  A delay of a month, not a year.

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@DavidG962812 wrote:

Our new Advantage plan cost is $0 per month and the fitness plan will save us ~$2,200 per year in premium gym dues. So, that was a no brainer.

I've been a Renew Active member for about 900 days, and I average more than one gym visit per day, including probably 300 Club Pilates or other boutique studio visits in that time period.  I can't even imagine what Renew Active has paid out on my behalf; it's got to be more than what my supplement premium costs, so they're losing money on me before a single medical bill is submitted. 

And that's factoring in the whole premium for the supplement--to get access to Renew Active, I pay an extra $10/month to get the "wellness extras" that include Renew Active.  So, $10/month to get all this gym access?  Obviously a no-brainer.  But all of us no-brainer members cost UHC money, and insurance companies aren't in the business of losing money, so sometimes something has to give. 

Advantage plans are experiencing financial pressures, and they cut benefits in order to make the math work, and especially to keep the $0 premium plans people love.  (This is like the propane tank swap companies, that keep reducing the amount of propane in the swapped cylinder in order to keep the price in the $20 range; the 20-pound tank now has 15 pounds of propane in it.)

What I find interesting is that everyone is yelling at UHC for eliminating the premium locations from Renew Active, but if it does turn out that supplement people will still have free access to the premium locations, then there's a much more nuanced situation going on.  (And this is one of the perils of extrapolating one's personal experience to apply to everyone--its' possible that only Advantage members are losing access to premium locations, and it's obvious that only a small number of YMCAs are being removed from Renew Active, but that's not what you'd believe from reading these posts.)

If indeed supplements will still have access to premium locations, then it's obvious what's happened.  Xponential and Orange Theory and Rumble and the like couldn't come to an agreement with Renew Active on what they'd be paid for visits, so they and Renew Active parted ways.  It seems like a lot of gyms because Xponential own several, so the list looks long, but I'm sure Xponential was negotiating on behalf of all of its brands.  So it was really only a handful that couldn't come to an agreement.

So those gyms disappear from Renew Active entirely (just like other gyms disappear during the year, with much less fanfare).  And if supplements maintain access to premium locations, it means that Renew Active now has a two-tier system, with supplements having access to all Renew Active locations (sometimes limited access, like four classes per month), and Advantage members having access only to non-premium locations.

Makes sense, since costs for Advantage members have gone up, but there's great pressure to keep the $0 premium plans.  The medical costs paid by supplements are also going up, but with supplements, they can (and do) increase the premiums to cover increased costs--there's no customer pressure to keep anything at $0.  So it could still make mathematical sense for supplements to still be given access to premium locations.

Or maybe not.  I've seen nothing official that my supplement will still include Renew Active premium locations.  A pox on UHC for it's opaqueness on all of this. 

January 1 will tell me if premium locations are still available to me.  I know Club Pilates won't be, but the "premium" independent pilates studio I go with Renew Active hasn't said a peep about any of this; all I know is that it's allowed me to schedule a class on January 1, which is a good sign.

[LisaT742060]

I don’t think supplements keep it. Exercise Coach told me NO insurance will be accepted after 2024

[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]

Can you summarize the discounted programs, to give people a ballpark?

[JillR908616]

Hi. This is what we have been told from our gyms. Club Pilates is charging us $220 per month for unlimited access to the 4 clubs in this franchise. The Exercise Coach wants $99 a month for 4 shared sessions (meaning instead of an individual coach you have two people with one coach for 20 minutes, 4 times a month) and Stretch Lab told us it would be $105 for one 50 minute session per month. As you can see, this is A LOT of money for two people. And I’m sure these costs vary by club as well. Hope this helps.  

[TRL1111]

Thanks for the info, because getting pricing information is like pulling teeth.  Unfortunately, it looks like fairly modest discounts.

And yes, it IS a lot of money.  Which is no doubt why UHC has scaled back. 

[SandraH34897]

I do see that, but we just signed up in April for Medicare and Supplement with Renew Active, and these benefits made the decision for me...  this seems more like a bait and switch than anything else, especially since I was notified at the end of November.  The gym memberships felt "too good to be true".  I max'd out on the renew active benefits, and my husband didn't utilize any of them, even though he was also paying extra for them.  Oh well.. I will miss my awesome club pilates, stretch  lab, ex coach and yoga six classes.  I hope UHC is ready to pay for the consequences of all these seniors becoming stiff and inactive.

[BarbaraC621131]

I agree!