| Flo
Nervo exercises with others in the Silver Sneakers
program at the Tallmadge Rec Center in Tallmadge, Ohio,
on January 23, 2013. |
 |
TALLMADGE,
Ohio — Nancy Hunt took the first fitness class of her life
at the age of 76.
A year
later, she’s going to the Tallmadge Recreation Center three
times a week.
"I’m
not so much of a couch potato now," the Tallmadge woman
said, pausing while 30 other seniors around her marched in
place and twirled their arms to an instructor’s cadence.
Still,
if her insurance provider didn’t pay for the workout, she
probably wouldn’t be going, she admitted.
Hunt is
one of a growing number of the 65-and-over set taking
advantage of SilverSneakers, a national fitness program,
according to SilverSneakers.com.
Increasingly,
health-care providers are paying for the program because the
benefits "are definable and measurable," said David
Cooper, director of the Tallmadge center, which began offering
the program in 2010.
"What
it does for people is amazing," he said. His center has
nearly 2,000 SilverSneakers members.
"I’ve
had people thank me personally, and want to share their
success stories. They’ll say, ‘I was walking with a cane
and now I don’t need it’ or tell me how they don’t need
their diabetes medicine anymore."
Insurance
providers in Ohio that pay for seniors to use the program are
AARP MedicareComplete by UnitedHealthcare, AARP Medicare
Supplement Insurance Plan, Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield,
Health Advantra, Humana, Kaiser Permanente, MediGold,
Paramount Elite, SummaCare, Universal Health Care and WellCare.
SummaCare’s
Medicare supplement plan started covering SilverSneakers last
year. This year, one in five eligible people is taking
advantage of it, said Jim Loveless, vice president for
Medicare and individual products at SummaCare.
"Every
year we reach out to current members and prospective members
and ask what they like and what needs changed," he said.
"One thing being asked for was a fitness benefit. That’s
why we added it."
Because
it’s only the second year SummaCare has offered it, it’s
too early to quantify the benefits, Loveless said, but
"it is anticipated that there would be a reduction in our
expenses in doing something like this because it is
preventative care."
In the
meantime, SummaCare has been marketing the program to make
sure its members are aware of it.
"We
want everybody enrolled in the plan," he said.
The
program is no secret, said Margo Terry, a fitness instructor
at Tallmadge.
"Seniors
are the best word of mouth going on," she said, noting
that enrollment has "skyrocketed" since the center
first became a provider.
There’s
another benefit to the trend: Rec centers find another income
source.
The
city-owned Tallmadge facility gained $200,000 last year. The
center gets $3.40 each time a member uses the service, up to
10 visits a month.
But at
Tallmadge, members can go as often as they want for free, even
beyond the 10 for which the city is reimbursed, Cooper said.
The
center has a one-fifth of a mile track, and members have
access to strength and cardio machines as well as 24 classes a
week devoted to older adults.
Because
the seniors use the facility during slower periods in the
morning and early afternoon, the growth in attendance isn’t
colliding with the typical busy after-school and after-work
hours, Cooper said.
While
the program means more money for the center’s coffers, it
means less is coming out of Vittorio Quaranta’s wallet.
The
70-year-old Tallmadge man said he paid about $280 a year to
use the center’s walking track and fitness equipment. Now
his supplemental insurance through Anthem pays for it through
SilverSneakers.
He had
heart surgery four years ago, but the regular workout keeps
him in shape to still be a soccer referee once a week.
"I
feel better, and I have more energy," he said.
Added
his wife, Rosemarie: "We’re making new friends,
too."
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information can be found at
