Minnesota Blue Cross dropping YMCA, Life Time from fitness program for 26,000 seniors

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota is dropping YMCA facilities in the Twin Cities and Life Time gyms statewide from its popular SilverSneakers program next year, a change roundly criticized by seniors in the state’s largest Medicare insurer.

The cost-cutting move means about 26,000 seniors will either have to find a new gym or switch to a different insurance company to have their fitness center fees covered. Proponents say such programs drive physical activity as well as social connections.

Eagan-based Blue Cross says even with the removals of Life Time and some YMCA options, Medicare subscribers will still have access to more than 600 fitness centers across the state.

The insurer’s move is the latest sign of turbulence in a Medicare health insurance market in which seniors in Minnesota have already been scrambling because of the withdrawal of plans from Minneapolis-based UCare and smaller pullbacks by several other companies. As money gets tighter, including red ink with privatized Medicare Advantage plans, insurers have been cutting back on choices and benefits.

“It’s just showing the pressures that all the companies are having, and they’re all cutting in different ways,” said Nolan Heppner, president of Heppner Group, a Medicare insurance brokerage in Eagan.

The change applies to all gyms operated by Chanhassen-based Life Time and facilities in the Twin Cities metro operated by YMCA of the North, a Minneapolis-based nonprofit.

It does not affect YMCA facilities in Greater Minnesota, which are still part of the fitness network at Blue Cross.

Some questioned why Blue Cross announced the change just a few weeks before the conclusion of Medicare’s annual open enrollment period on Dec. 7. The YMCA of the North encouraged seniors to explore switching to health plans that provide access to its facilities, even though the timeline for changes is tight.

Other seniors said they felt locked into their current Blue Cross coverage and feared losing the sense of community and well-being they get from their current gyms.

“The exercise keeps our bodies well, but the social part of it keeps our minds well,” said Meredith Clifford, 80, of Edina, who regularly attends fitness and swimming classes at the Southdale YMCA. “Without the Y, we’re losing a big part of our living, I would say, and [what’s] keeping us well.”

John Biestman, 70, of Minneapolis, says he can’t afford a membership at the Life Time club in Edina, where he currently takes aqua aerobics and other classes for seniors.

He’s already feeling the financial pinch from Blue Cross raising the premium on his Medicare Supplement policy by 16% for next year, on top of the general 10% increase for 2026 in Medicare Part B premiums from the federal government.

Gym officials said they only learned of the Blue Cross change last week.

Life Time said it has created a variety of membership options for those affected.

The YMCA of the North said in a statement it’s “working on a solution” for impacted seniors and hopes to share information in the days after Thanksgiving.

Glen Gunderson, the nonprofit’s president and CEO, said that while he thinks highly of leadership at Blue Cross, the insurer’s decision put seniors in a tough spot while potentially impacting jobs at the Y.

Health insurers spend a lot more money financing doctor and hospital care, Gunderson noted, than the funding required for fitness benefits.

Over the past 20 years, free access to health clubs has become a standard benefit in Medicare Advantage health plans, which are a privatized version of the original Medicare health insurance program for seniors.

Fitness benefits have also become common in Minnesota with Medicare Supplement policies, which many seniors purchase to fill in coverage gaps with original Medicare.

Blue Cross is by far the biggest provider of both types of coverage in Minnesota, with nearly 400,000 enrollees at the end of September.

Insurers and health club operators don’t share financial details for how these fitness networks work. They are typically run by third-party companies such as Tennessee-based Tivity Health, which owns the popular SilverSneakers brand, and Eden Prairie-based UnitedHealth Group, which got into the business in 2017.

In general, health insurers pay about $3 each time a senior visits many fitness centers, which is a significant discount off the retail price, said John Atwood of Atwood Consulting Group, which is based in suburban Boston.

The sum looks small, Atwood said, compared with the company’s $8.8 billion in total health insurance revenue last year.

“I feel like they’re bickering over small change,” he said. “It’s not a lot of money in the grand scheme of things.”

Blue Cross said the financial impact is “far greater,” but did not offer specifics.

All plan details, including supplemental benefits like SilverSneakers, were finalized and approved by the federal government before the start of open enrollment, Blue Cross says. The insurer says the makeup of the fitness center network itself is subject to change at any time.

For 2026, the insurer is moving to the SilverSneakers standard network, which has about 50 fewer locations than the current premium network.

Tivity Health declined comment.

“We looked for ways to keep the SilverSneakers benefit viable, because we do want to support seniors in achieving their health goals,” Blue Cross said. “The Medicare market overall is dealing with significant financial stability issues.”

The change is another example of how insurers are trying to cut costs and slow enrollment, brokers say, including decisions earlier this fall to stop paying certain commissions when agents help Medicare beneficiaries sign up for a plan.