Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota will no longer offer gym memberships for Medicare beneficiaries at YMCA of the North and at Life Time, as of Jan. 1, both gym operators and the insurer confirmed to Becker’s.
About 26,000 BCBS Minnesota Medicare members receive their memberships to the gyms through SilverSneakers, a fitness initiative for older adults, the insurer said. BCBS Minnesota has begun notifying affected Medicare members.
“As a market, Minnesota is experiencing high cost pressures related to Medicare coverage. In order to ensure Blue Cross could continue offering SilverSneakers to our Medicare members in Minnesota, we needed to adjust the network structure of locations included in the program,” a spokesperson for BCBS Minnesota told Becker’s.
In a statement shared with Becker’s, YMCA of the North President and CEO Glen Gunderson said the organization was informed Nov. 19 by the third-party aggregator for SilverSneakers.
“Despite our efforts to try to reach a solution that would allow our members to remain included, we were not able to influence any change,” Mr. Gunderson said. “We strongly encourage seniors to review their Medicare Advantage options before the Dec. 7 open enrollment deadline to ensure their YMCA branch is included.”
He also said his team is “working on a solution for members affected by the changes to their health plan,” which he expects to release after the Thanksgiving holiday.
YMCA locations in greater Minnesota will remain in the SilverSneakers program. The insurer said more than 600 locations will still be available in Minnesota.
