Stay out of the Hospital

As most of you probably know, I work for a health insurance company and the division I work for provides health and well-being benefits. Reading through some market intelligence today, I came across a study done by another health company looking at their Medicare population. Although this was geared towards seniors, it applies to all of us. If you are interested, read on...

To provide an extra incentive to work out regularly, the program provides a $20 credit toward monthly membership dues when members work out at least eight days per month at any participating fitness center.

In 2006, a study was conducted to see if there was evidence that the this program contributed to improved health and to lower spending for medical care. The researchers also wanted to know if a $20 monthly incentive successfully motivates enrollees to exercise, and if the threshold of eight times/month was adequate to improve health outcomes.

The study did find that a discount on fitness center membership does encourage people to exercise regularly: 43% of the enrollees in this program qualify for the $20 monthly membership discount at participating health centers and gyms. It also found that eight times a month is enough to reward members with improved health and impressive savings.

Key Findings of study:

• After two years, people who began a regular program of exercise and met the threshold of eight times a month had significantly lower costs for prescriptions, doctor appointments, and care at clinics and hospitals.
• The average monthly medical costs of these enrollees in this program were 33.6% lower than those in a matched control group.
• People not enrolled in the program and who did not exercise eight times a month were 43% to 105% more likely to have been to a clinic, hospital or emergency room.