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January 12th, 2012 
FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda WEDNESDAY, Jan. 11 (HealthDay News) — Paying the gym-membership
fees of seniors joining private Medicare supplemental insurance plans —
which by law cannot deny coverage based on illness — attracts healthier
adults, potentially saving the U.S. insurer money, a new study
suggests.
Analyzing 22 Medicare Advantage plans, including half that added
fitness club memberships and half that didn’t, Brown University
researchers found that plans with fitness benefits had 6 percent more
seniors who reported being in excellent or very good health. The number of
new enrollees in such plans reporting activity limitations was 10.4
percent lower, and those reporting difficulty walking was 8.1 percent
lower than in plans not offering gym memberships.
“Insurance companies are at risk for paying for all covered services,
so there’s a strong financial incentive to enroll people who are healthy
rather than those who are sick,” said study co-author Dr. Amal Trivedi, an
assistant professor of health services, policy and practice at Brown.
“Obviously, covering gym memberships costs money, so there’s a calculus
between [that] versus attracting healthier enrollees,” Trivedi added.
“What this suggests is that offering gym memberships is an attractive
business proposition.”
The study is published Jan. 12 in the New England Journal of
Medicine.
Medicare is the U.S. government’s health insurance program for people
65 and older. Medicare Advantage plans, which are administered by private
insurers approved by Medicare, offer coverage for extra services such as
vision, hearing, dental and/or prescription drugs. The plans must accept
all applicants, but individual premiums are risk-adjusted based on
pre-existing medical conditions. Sicker applicants, therefore, pay higher
premiums than healthier ones.
Coverage of fitness clubs jumped significantly in the past decade.
Looking at 101 Medicare Advantage plans from 2002 to 2008, the researchers
found that the number offering gym memberships jumped from 14 to 58.
“That’s a fourfold rise, which I suspect is even higher now,” said
Trivedi, noting that more than 300 total Medicare Advantage plans are
currently available. “I think the magnitude of the effect was surprising
to us, and this is a topic that was not studied before.”
Trivedi, who also practices at the VA Medical Center in Providence,
R.I., and co-author Alicia Cooper also obtained data from the Medicare
Health Outcomes Survey — which collects information such as health,
social and demographic status from a random sample of beneficiaries. The
sample included nearly 5,000 Medicare Advantage beneficiaries ages 65 and
older in 11 plans that added fitness-membership benefits in 2004 or 2005
along with 11 plans that did not.
Dr. Tamara Kuittinen, director of medical education in the department
of emergency medicine at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City, said some
private insurance plans covering all ages also offer gym memberships,
which she compared to a “carrot on a stick to living healthily.”
“Aging is a complicated process, but I think [this practice is] a
positive incentive for those who, say, need to join a gym or talk to their
doctor about staying healthy,” she said. “Studies show if you’re active in
your senior years, you live longer. It improves mental health as well as
physical health.”
More information
Learn more about Medicare Advantage plans.
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