Many Nashville area seniors were recently disappointed to learn that the Tennessee State Alliance of YMCA’s had decided to discontinue the popular Silver Sneakers program. The program is the nation's largest fitness program for seniors, and the decision was destined to affect as many as 10,000 Nashville seniors and 44 Nashville area YMCA facilities, according to an article in the Tennessean. Negotiations had been ongoing since January of 2019, but officials said they could find no way to make the program align with their individual membership pricing models. The move would affect 350 other YMCA facilities scattered throughout Tennessee, many in rural areas.
Think of Silver Sneakers as a network of gyms, and the YMCA pulled out of that particular network.
Good news was announced this week for members of BlueCross Blue-Shield’s Medicare plans: they will be able to keep their free access to YMCA facilities. As announced in a Tennessean article dated October 18, 2019, BlueCross will offer American Specialty Health’s Silver&Fit program as an alternative to the Silver Sneakers program beginning January or 2020. In addition to offering free Y access, the Silver&Fit program also offers access to other fitness centers, plus home fitness kits, online fitness classes, and other wellness resources. Silver&Fit has had a presence in Tennessee YMCA’s since 2014.
I’m a Medicare agent for BlueCross, as well as all the other major players in the Tennessee market. Please call me if you would like to know more.
Photo courtesy of Library of Congress