Traditional fitness is falling short for Medicare Advantage
Fitness benefits are among the most common benefits offered by Medicare Advantage today, just after dental, vision, and OTC services — more than 95% of Medicare Advantage plans offer some kind of fitness service to members.
Yet a closer look at exercise trends among Medicare-eligible individuals suggests that traditional fitness solutions are falling short for many. At the same time, there is a growing consensus that supplemental benefits can no longer function as ‘check-the-box’ solutions that perform only during the Annual Enrollment Period. They have to drive value year round, and influence other areas of plan performance — Star Ratings, clinical outcomes — as plans contend with rising costs and growing regulatory scrutiny.
Approximately 1 in 10 adults over 65 belong to a gym. And among those who do, most already had some degree of health literacy, physical confidence, and mobility. These aren’t the members most likely to fall, land in the hospital, or quietly erode your HOS performance.
Fitness benefits have become so common they’re rarely examined. A line item. A marketing bullet. A familiar offering that no longer gets questioned.
So the real question for plan leaders isn’t Do we offer fitness?
It’s Is our fitness benefit delivering where it really matters?
Because in a value-based landscape, where outcomes shape economics, a benefit that only reaches the already-well is a missed opportunity.
Digital, personalized exercise is key to closing the engagement gap
The last five years sparked a flood of digital health innovation. But while the employer and commercial populations have seen a surge of new startups, the Medicare space has moved comparatively more slowly.
Most employers now offer or plan to offer virtual musculoskeletal care. Nearly 90% are actively reevaluating health and wellness vendors in search of tools that deliver not just access, but outcomes.
For Medicare Advantage plans, the same pressures apply – except the stakes might be higher. CMS will soon triple-weight HOS outcomes tied to physical and mental health. Plans need solutions that work together to address both in a way that’s personalized, measurable, and built for scale.
The case for digital, at-home fitness benefits for older adults
While gym networks remain the status quo in Medicare Advantage, they’re not designed to engage the majority of older adults — particularly those with chronic conditions, mobility limitations, or a history of inactivity. A growing body of evidence, and the lived experiences of members and plans alike, point to a better path forward: clinically grounded, digital-first fitness benefits that meet older adults where they are.
1. Reach members gyms leave behind
Traditional gym benefits disproportionately serve healthier, more independent older adults. Meanwhile, the costliest and most vulnerable members remain disengaged.
When movement comes to the member – on their screen, on their schedule, in their home – engagement transforms.
More than 40% of Bold members had no exercise routine before joining.
These members are more likely to experience chronic pain, fall risk, and depression and are far less likely to walk into a gym.
Digital, at-home programs remove barriers like transportation, fear of injury, and physical self-consciousness. Programs like Bold offer a private, judgement-free environment to begin building strength and confidence.
2. Turn passive perks into active prevention
Traditional fitness programs rely on generic access. But real health behavior change begins with precision.
When a member engages with Bold, they immediately encounter personalization. Every user begins with a guided assessment that accounts for physical limitations, chronic conditions, and fall risk and receives a plan tailored to their body, goals, and comfort level.
This is about movement, not fitness. Not pushing toward performance, but creating space for consistency, confidence, and strength-building on their terms.
Bold provides:
- Evidence-based assessments
- Personalized movement plans tailored to conditions like arthritis, osteoporosis, and chronic pain
- Strength, balance, and cognitive-mobility training
- Built-in habit support and follow through
3. Drive measurable, plan-level outcomes
Access without engagement doesn’t move metrics. And in the coming years, those metrics will matter more than ever.
CMS is placing increasing weight on outcomes tied to physical and mental function, with the HOS measures for Improving or maintaining physical health and improving or maintaining mental health tripling in value by 2027.
Bold has demonstrated >40% reduction in falls and hospitalizations, and 8 in 10 members say Bold makes them more likely to stay with their plan.
To influence tomorrow’s performance measures, plans need to think about the entirety of their member population and activate those that are high-risk and high-value. Plans must move beyond either/or thinking and adopt the right combination of benefits and partners to deliver movement as a means of preventative care.
4. Digital benefits match the needs of today’s seniors
The assumption that older adults can’t or won’t engage with technology no longer holds. Smartphone and tablet adoption among those 65+ continues to climb, and Medicare Advantage members have already embraced virtual care.
A 2020 survey showed that 91% of MA members who used telehealth had a positive experience. In Bold’s own data, the majority of users access the platform independently, with minimal technical support.
Digital benefits can be intuitive, low-tech, and accessible – especially when designed with older adults in mind.
A member’s experience with Bold
Bold is built to feel approachable, possible, and drive member confidence. Over time, what starts as small, management steps becomes increased mobility, reduced fear of falling, improved mood, and a stronger sense of autonomy.
What Bold proves is that when care is designed around real lives, real change becomes possible.
Rethinking access, realizing impact
The pandemic made one thing unmistakably clear: access to care is shaped as much by design as by delivery. When in-person visits became telehealth appointments, and gym routines gave way to digital programs, older adults adapted quickly. And that shift wasn’t just behavioral. It was clinical.
Today’s older adults are avid virtual-care users. In a 2023 survey of Medicare beneficiaries, about 90% said they were satisfied with their most recent telehealth visit. According to AARP, Tech spending remains steady year over year among older adults. The assumption that “digital doesn’t work for seniors” is no longer just outdated. It’s inaccurate.
But access is only part of the story. Digital solutions unlock a level of clinical precision that gyms can’t offer at scale. With Bold, every member completes a guided intake, enabling a personalized plan that’s tailored to their physical capacity, chronic conditions, and goals — whether that means seated workouts, dual-task training, or confidence-building balance routines.
The result is measurable:
- A 40%+ reduction in falls and related hospitalizations
- Up to $1,500 in reduced per-member care costs¹
- A 182% increase in physical activity
- 80+ NPS
- 8 in 10 say Bold makes them more likely to stay with their plan²
The Bottom Line: Why digital and at-home fitness for seniors matters now
CMS is increasingly tying plan performance to the very outcomes Bold was built to influence: physical function, mobility, mental health, and quality of life.
Bold was built for the upcoming HOS scoring shift and partners with health plans specifically to address and improve these measures.
Exercise remains one of the rare interventions that improves physical, cognitive, and emotional health simultaneously if delivered in the right way. That means accessible. That means personalized. That means trusted and easy to use.
Rethinking what fitness benefits should actually do
If your fitness benefit is only serving those who are already active, you’re leaving value on the table — and excluding members from services that can significantly improve their quality of life.To learn how Bold partners with leading MA plans to deliver measurable ROI through clinically informed, personalized digital exercise, visit agebold.com/partnerships.
Footnotes
1 Bold impact analysis after 1 year with an at-risk provider
2 Internal Bold analysis