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This strikes me so much. Exercise is a proven health booster and yet health insurance doesn't cover gym memberships or exercise equipment. Why is that?
by j-bos 4y ago
This strikes me so much. Exercise is a proven health booster and yet health insurance doesn't cover gym memberships or exercise equipment. Why is that?
- msgilligan 4y agoI’m not in the insurance industry and have no idea what the actual reason is. And I don’t know what the statistics are, but a significant percentage of people with gym memberships rarely go to the gym. I suspect the percentage of people with free (i.e. payed for by insurance) insurance who rarely go would be much higher.
- msgilligan 4y agoFurther thought: Maybe insurance companies could pay, reimburse, or reduce rates for those who can reliably prove they are exercising.
- jan_Inkepa 4y agoMy insurance offers reduction if you pass a basic health check each year. It's kinda nice but also sets up a slightly adversarial relationship with my doctor, which I don't like.
- jlokier 4y agoIdeally the health checks would be done with someone else, to reduce that adversarial conflict of interest problem. Maybe your doctor should even get a small reward each time you pass the basic health check, so that in aggregate they are better aligned with keeping people in shape for those checks.
- heavyset_go 4y agoI've seen plans that subsidize gym memberships.
- michaelmarkell 4y agoTreatments like exercise also have high variance - depending on the circumstance and how diligently you implement it, it may have no effect, a big effect, or even cause injury in the worst case. Insurance likes low variance outcomes because they’re easier to model accurately
- parineum 4y ago>health insurance doesn't cover gym memberships or exercise equipment Because neither of those things are necessary to exercise. I bet if you asked your GP for some body weight exercises you could do at home he'd happily provide some for you and insurance would cover the visit.