On the podcast (256) there was mention of healthcare plans potentially offering monetary discounts for checking into gyms regularly, etc. United Healthcare - UHC was specifically mentioned - and their program called “Sweat Equity” was referenced in the live chat/comments.
I looked up the Sweat Equity flyer and I’m unsure how TrainerRoad training can be applied - as it specifically requires an instructor sign off, etc.
Anyways- I’d love to get this to work - has anyone here been successful in this? In particular with UHC.
There are two ways to go about receiving some sort of compensation for your check-ins to gyms/fitness classes with UHC, and TrainerRoad applies as it is part of an organized training plan you are following that promotes cardiovascular fitness.
This is the route I am personally using, and for our specific health insurance plan, it’s the easiest to do. Download the Rally Health app and log in with your UHC info. At that point you’ll be able to view various health-related challenges that can result in premium discounts, and one of those is through fitness class or gym check-ins. As I start a TrainerRoad workout, I use the app to check in to my fitness class. If I do that a certain number of times (this may vary by plan…), I get a premium reduction (also could vary by plan).
Formal reimbursement through expense report submission and the Sweat Equity program
This is another route that you can take, depending on the healthcare plan selected by you and your employer. From what I understand, this is less about premium reduction and more about discounting specific expenses that serve health improvement. An anecdotal example of this is a friend of mine who works for Microsoft who is able to get a pretty sizable reimbursement check to help pay for a large portion of a new bike every year. I don’t know exactly how this works, but I know it does, because he has a fresh Specialized Tarmac every year! hehe
We’ll soon have a blog post going into the details behind this, but if anybody else has experience to share, that would be great!
Thanks for the detailed response! Couple of things to add since you’ve posted: Even though I have access to Rally through UHC, my employer specifically, doesn’t offer premium discounts through the Rally app (I called up Rally support to confirm this).
Regardless, I can still earn coins for little things like “Tidy up” and “Walk 5,000 steps” which yield some material fitness rewards such as reduced Garmin products (20% off Fenix, etc.), so definitely a great resource even if your employer doesn’t do premium reductions!