Health insurance companies put muscle toward community fitness initiatives
One organization is taking a creative approach to encouraging people to exercise while aiming to make physical activity more broadly accessible. The National Fitness Campaign, a for-profit wellness consulting firm, has partnered with 13 health provider and insurance sponsors, along with other foundations and associations, to build outdoor fitness courts.
The courts are designed to guide people of all ages through full-body workouts at their own pace. Landscape designers employed by the firm work with city planners to determine suitable locations to build the roughly $200,000 outdoor gyms. The National Fitness Campaign oversees the construction process, while cities are responsible for maintaining the courts.
A free mobile app teaches participants how to perform various exercises. A new version of the app, launching this month, logs estimated calories burned and steps taken, offers more workouts and shows where courts are located.
“Our team has built our campaign around the notion of helping cities to prioritize health and wellness by redesigning the built environment to encourage people to spend more time outdoors, less time in cars and more time on their feet using our fitness courts as healthy hubs,” said Mitch Menaged, founder and director of the National Fitness Campaign.
Health Care Service Corp., which operates Blues plans in five states, has committed $1.3 million since last year to help develop more than 50 fitness courts in Illinois and Texas, 17 of which have been constructed. The courts, which prominently display the names of sponsors and partners, are open to everyone, not just health plan members.
“We want to make sure that people can have a chance to live their lives as healthy as they can be,” said Clarita Santos, HCSC’s executive director of corporate and civic partnerships.
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts has also teamed up with the firm as part of its stated goal to narrow health disparities across the state. The nonprofit insurance company began its relationship with the National Fitness Campaign in 2022, committing $300,000 total toward building 15 fitness courts statewide over the next few years. Four have opened so far.
“Advancing this mission requires overcoming immediate barriers that prevent people from achieving physical, mental and emotional wellness, and also dismantling the root causes of these issues,” said Jeff Bellows, the insurer’s vice president of corporate citizenship and public affairs.
Leaders at both insurers said improving access to physical activities is just one way to advance health equity. Scaling up initiatives to enhance food, housing and employment opportunities can also lead to better outcomes, they said.
“The more people are healthier and the more we can help with maintaining that health, the better it is for the overall healthcare system,” Santos said. ■