Fitness Benefit Gains Insurers Healthy Elderly, Study Finds
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The offer of a fitness club membership is helping insurers including UnitedHealth Group Inc. and Humana Inc. draw healthier and less costly patients to their Medicare programs, said researchers reporting in the New England Journal of Medicine.
The study found 35.3 percent of new enrollees in a fitness membership benefit plan reported “excellent” or “very good” health, compared with 29.1 percent in the group without the benefit. The number of plans offering the memberships rose to 58 in 2008 from 4 in 2002, the researchers said.