Silver Sneakers being droped by AARP recommended insurer

[Eaamon]

I guess like all who have the "silver sneakers" card will become another worthless trash item.

United Health Care will discontinue your membership starting 1/1/18.

I am glad I went and purchased my own gym since but it is my guess that many others

do not have the money or the room for it like I do.

I had been using mine for treadmill and sauna during the cold times. the rest of the year i was

wlaking locally or golf course walking and swinging.

I think AARP might just search out another insurance company....as I might do on my own.....

[fredjadali]

Amen

[VictorB794210]

Is aarp silver sneakers being droped ???

[marteenuz]

I think they were just upset over losing SS last year...

[ChristineS148307]

Hahaha!!  :)

[ChristineS148307]

Not sure if you're being funny about the word "droped" or about silver sneakers being "droped".

Silver Sneakers was DROPPED by AARP/UHC a year ago and members were offered the opportunity to PAY for a gym membership, which outraged many people. 

The word "droped" was used by the original creater of this thread back when that happened (a year ago). 

I don't know who the creator of this thread is but his/her typo will live in infamy 🙂  

[PhyllisR111345]

We should all drop AARP until United brings back Silver S eskers!

i already left United!

[GailL1]

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@goliath wrote:

. . . . and remember they are AARP endorsed and you have to have an AARP membership to enroll. Just sayin'...

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You have to be a member for access to an AARP endorsed Medigap plan (Supplemental) but NOT for an AARP endorsed Medicare Advantage plan.

[goliath]

If you read my posts I am only speaking about Supplemental Plans and claimed no knowlege of Advantage Plans since I have never used them. My independent agents told me years ago to stick with the Supplemental Plans as long as I could afford them.

[tpierce2135]

I live in Chicago so unfortunately, I can't help you. The agent/advisor I went to was recommended by a friend so I'm not sure where she found him or how. Sorry I couldn't offer more help. 

[ls63763447]

I agree. Work with an agent and don’t let anyone scare you about rates being raised because you are leaving their plan.  I switched from UHC to Cigna because UHC dropped Silver Sneakers.  With UHC I was guaranteed  a discount for 10 years (each year the discount decreased).  However, my premium is less than the so-called discounted UHC and includes Silver & Fit which is accepted at our Rec Center to participate in Silver Sneaker classes.

I now receive multiple mailings from UHC asking me to “come back” and I qualify to receive the discount price again for 10 years.  Go figure.  No way UHC.  You have lost me,

[donotreply]

aarp should be ashamed to be depriving people of gyms and fitness programs and then lying about

replacing the plan

let's protest

everybody call today

[MicheleR793991]

I did - changed my plan to Humana- you can change C-F  supplemental providers at any time. LA Fitness her i come 🙂

[tpierce2135]

I also resent UnitedHealthcare for being so non-transparent about eliminating SS. I suspected something last fall and called them several times asking what was going on with SS. They acted like they didn't know anything yet. They just said they were calling it Renew. Not until I RENEWED with them did I find out that they dropped SS. Very dishonest of them! Thankfully, I found out that I had until the end of March to switch plans so that's what I did!

[tpierce2135]

I switched also, to Humana Supplemental G, and I'm all set to go to my favorite health club!

[c829263s]

Additionally, the new  AARP “special offer” of 50% off at LA Fitness is nonsense.  The regular LA Fitness monthly rate for a single site is $24.95/month.  The monthly rate (single site) through AARP is $22.00, which, I am told is half off the $44.00/month which AARP is charged by LA Fitness.  Even factoring in the exemption from a $99 initiation fee and the $40 yearly extra fee charged by LA Fitness, over the long haul this is still not 50% off. Next year I’m exploring my options. The sellling point for the AARP Plan for us was the Silver Sneakers gym membership.  

[Chidad53]

See my earlier reply --- the Chicago manager of my club told me that I can use the new plan -- which AARP says they know nothing about - all over the USA!

[KathyC708800]

My broker alerted me yesterday that Blue Shield wants more of the business.  They have extended the period you can switch to an equal or lower plan without underwriting to run all year 2019.  So you don't have to wait until your birthday to change. Blue Shield includes Silver Sneakers. I believe that info is validated on the Blue Shield Site https://blueshieldcamedicare.com/medicare-plans-california/medicare-supplement-plans/.  Since it runs month-to-month, I'm guessing an application submitted today might get you on effective tomorrow. 

Hope this info helps someone.

[KathyC708800]

To update my previous post re CALIFORNIA residents. My broker just sent me this link. To be absolutely sure, I called Blue Shield at the number listed and confirmed that during this special period, I can change from an Anthem G plan to the Blue Shield F Extra Plan. That would have been my first choice when I made my change in January, but it would have required underwriting because it was an upgrade from my F Plan with UHC. So I'm going to grab this opportunity and get changed asap.

https://www.blueshieldca.com/bsca/bsc/wcm/connect/sites/sites_content_en/medicare/supplement_plans/o...

[JohnathanW212160]

I just heard about this as well! I was searching the web for info about what is going on with sneakers and found this video https://youtu.be/Ug_BMbO6TKk The only person I've found to give alternatives if you still want to have a plan that inlcudes it. Called them up and got the scoop on the F extra also. If you want info on whats going on with the time period for F extra they seem to know their stuff there

[AlanW174645]

Reminder.  You can change your Medicare medigap/supplement plan any month,   Advantage plans can only be changed Oct to December.

If you have a pre-existing condition that requires an underwriting, in California you can change supplement on your birthday month without an underwriting.  In Ohio you change change to Medical Mutual until end of june without an underwriting.

AARP-UHC is usually more expensive than your state's other supplement insurance companies (which also have silver sneakers) because UHC gives AARP 5% or so commission.

Look up your states Supplement plans that support silver sneakers!

In Ohio, I have Fitworks and LA fitness and YMCA for free.  And other fitness centers when we travel to Florida in winter.

AARP get 60 to 70% of it's revenue from insurance companies (not membership fees).

[JonathanC64540]

In Pennsylvania, I switched to Humana supplemental.  Great customer service, paying less for more .... AND Silver Sneakers.  Now if there is an alternative to AARP for seniors to that isn't i the pocket of the insurance, pharmaceutical, and travel companies, and that doesn't try to manipulate and screw over vulnerable seniors, I'll sign up immediately!

[Chidad53]

The sign was posted on the doorof LA Fitness here in Chicago,and while the savings seem smalll, I was told by the manager, that I can use the new and improved option all over the country! When I emailed AARP for more info, I was told that they cluld not help me, based on the information I provided???

[JonathanC64540]

Just joined AARP for the purpose of using UHC as my supplemental, only to discover that Silver Sneakers was discontinued.  Disappointing.  Fortunately, I found this forum first before signing up.  UHC has now lost me as a potential customer and I will just let AARP expire in a year.  There are other insurance companies that still offer SS.  Besides, there are already too many ads from AARP trying to separate me and my hard earned money, some of dubious value or savings.  Thanks all for your insights.  This helped me from making a mistake. 

[kathprewitt]

I would love to know who exactly made this decision   I’m sure UHC intends to profit in some way and estimates of those future profits were presented to management. I would assume they would have estimated the loss UHC would incur due to this business decision. Not only those people who will get rid of UHC ASAP but future signups. Finally this UHC decision most likely drives the healthiest people out of their plans

[sf2889546]

Well, not a happy camper here. I've been with United Healthcare since 2014 and have used Silver Sneakers several times a week. When I signed up again in December, I was assured by the representative that I would retain it. Needless to say, I walked into my LA Fitness today and they told me my membership was canceled. I have a supplement plan F, so it is not one of the cheaper plans. I will definitely look next year to another plan that has it, I feel that we've been snookered and I will also not renew my AARP membership after it expires. Now they even back door you when you try to remain healthy. Certainly not a fan anymore. This is a total failure to your loyal members.

[GailL1]

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@sf2889546 wrote:

 I will definitely look next year to another plan that has it, I feel that we've been snookered and I will also not renew my AARP membership after it expires.

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If your live in a state that has the "Birthday Rule" or some other special condition that forces you to wait til the month of December for your best results, Fine  But if not, you don't have to wait - you can switch Medigap plan anytime but you might have to go through underwriting.

Medicare.gov - Switching Medigap Policies

[MiriamJ849239]

I totally agree that AARp seems to be doing a bait and switch ad.  We were told when we moved to this area we would have Silver Sneakers...We go to our local Y, and they tell us United Healthcare has dropped the program.  Now we get this nice glossy Renew magazine where we can watch other seniors exercizing, instead of exercizing ourselves!!Big woop!

[nu8579]

I did not receive ANY communication from AARP that it was dropping Silver Sneakers. I only started looking into this because this week (Feb. 6, 2019) I received a letter from my local YMCA informing me that my SS membership was being cancelled! The excuse they gave was gibberish, implying that SS had changed reimbursement. There was no mention of AARP or United Healthcare.

I did receive a letter two days earlier from AARP carrying on about its "HealthYourWay.com" website, but never said anything about SS so I didn't bother with it.  It claims 50% off "participating" YMCAs and fitness centers. But the website does not show a list of them! Looks spotty and very vague.

The rates on my AARP medigap plan have gone up 41% since 2014. So now I have more 2019 ToDo's: A new health plan, new health club and not renewing AARP membership.

[LyndaE176316]

This is the second year that I have been rolled in united healthcare AARP insurance.   I was very happy that they insurance included silver sneakers which I made you serve weekly at my local YMCA. When it came time to re-enroll in insurance for this next year I made sure to find out if Silver Sneakers would be included. The answer we received was that there would be a program similar to Silver Sneakers but called something different. In December after the enrollment. Had ended we received a letter informing us that silver sneakers would not be included. Additionally the new plan would require us to pay for half a membership fee. It was now too late for me to change my insurance. Since Silver Sneakers is important to me I would have changed my insurance so that I continued to receive Silver Sneakers.  Providing his information after the enrollment deadline is dishonest at best and has seriously impacted The positive feelings that I had about my United Healthcare/AARP Supplement Insurance. 

[FreedomRetirement]

If it truly is a Medicare Supplement plan that you have, you can change it any time during the year, there is no open enrolment period for Supplements.

Medicare Advantage has a once-per-year Annual Election Period, but now there is another Open Enrollment period through March where you can change plans. Happy to help if you reach out.