New discussion on Renew Active changes
The original thread has become unwieldy, and has outdated information in it, so I'm starting a new thread.
From the Renew Active location finder website:
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.
This applies to both Advantage members and people who have a Medicare supplement. So nobody with Renew Active will have access to these gyms.
Advantage members have received letters from UHC stating that they will no longer have access to gyms identified as "premium" in Renew Active's network.
Supplement holders have received no such notification concerning "premium" gyms. UHC sent letters to supplement holders listing gyms they visited in the past that would no longer be available, and in my case the only gyms listed were among the ones listed as no longer being in the network at all starting 1-1-25 (Club Pilates, StretchLab, Orangetheory, in my case), and nothing about any of the premium gyms I belong to, and the word "premium" was not in my letter at all.
From that it can be inferred that supplement holders will still have access to premium locations, and one person has said their agent said supplement holders will still have access to premium locations. But as far as I can tell, there's been no outright statement to that effect from UHC or Renew Active.
YMCAs have been mentioned in this discussion, because some are classified as "premium" and therefore not available to Advantage members after 1-1-25 (but presumably will be available to supplement holders). YMCAs operate independently when it comes to participation in programs like Renew Active or Silver Sneakers. So all along, some YMCAs have participated in Renew Active and some haven't, and some have participated but then dropped out (YMCA of Metropolitan Washington DC did that last year, for example).
But all indications are that only a small number of YMCAs are classified as "premium"--Charlotte, Houston, and Knoxville have been mentioned here. The vast majority that participate in Renew Active are not classified as "premium" and are therefore available to all Renew Active members--Advantage and supplement alike.
Something that's not discussed much, no doubt partly because it's so hard to get reliable information, is how much Renew Active pays the gyms. A while back, someone who worked for an Xponential brand location said they thought Renew Active paid a little less than the drop-in rate, and another person agreed. I found that hard to believe because the drop-in rate is about $35 per class, and they said they "thought" that's what it was. But more recently, an Xponential location employee said it was a little over $30, and then said they went back and double-checked to be sure, and confirmed it was a little over $30 per class.
Frankly, I can't believe they kept this up for as long as they did. We don't know whether Renew Active offered the dropped gyms to stay in the program if they'd accept a lower reimbursement, and we definitely don't know what Renew Active might have offered, but the $10 extra a month I pay for "wellness extras" with my UHC Plan G supplement obviously doesn't come anywhere near covering even one visit a month to an Xponential location. Shoot--even the whole premium, $150/month, is way less than they're shelling out for my gym visits alone, never mind any medical claims (although that's generally $0 because I've met my Part B deductible (after which UHC has to start paying my 20% of charges) only once, and even then, I barely met it). And while I enjoy all the gym visits I do, I'm under no delusion that my health would be markedly worse if I didn't have access to them.
So I'm not shocked they dropped the expensive gyms for everyone, and remain happy I have free access to my choice of a bunch of other ones. And I'll note that by eliminating the Xponential and other expensive locations, the Renew Active network now resembles Silver Sneakers' network, and people seem pretty happy with that.