Quick Overview
Imagine you’re at the gym, chatting with a friend about how expensive membership fees have become lately. That’s when you’re surprised to learn that your friend hasn’t paid a single rupee for it. This isn’t as uncommon as it sounds today. Many corporate and retail health insurance plans offer a range of allied wellness benefits like yoga classes and mental health consultations apart from gym memberships.
In this article, we’ll look at these benefits in detail, why insurers offer them, and whether choosing such plans actually makes sense for you.
What Types of Wellness Benefits Are Covered in Health Insurance?
Gym or Fitness Center Membership
This wellness benefit is offered under both retail and corporate health insurance plans. It's usually in the form of a partner membership pass (e.g., Cultfit or Fitpass), a fixed employer allowance for fitness expenses, or reimbursement after you pay upfront. The Be fit add-on in Care Supreme plan is an excellent example.
Wellness Discounts
Mostly seen in retail health insurance, these discounts are earned by meeting trackable fitness goals, such as walking 10,000 steps for most days annually or burning a set number of calories per session. Your activities are usually tracked and synced through the insurer’s app (e.g. HealthReturns feature in some Aditya Birla plans).
Annual Health Check-up
Some plans include a free annual health check-up to help you stay on top of your health. This can be cashless at partner centers or reimbursed, depending on the policy. For instance, Aditya Birla Activ One Max offers 1 free health checkup every year.
Online Wellness Benefits
Insurers may also offer online services like mental health consultations, tele-medical advice, and virtual yoga or Zumba classes. A common example is the Optima Well-being add-on in the HDFC Ergo Optima Secure plan.
Why Do Insurers Offer Gym Membership Benefits?
- Regulator-backed Preventive Push
IRDAI’s guidelines encourage insurers to include wellness features that help maintain or improve good health, while also supporting affordable health insurance in the long run. They must be clearly filed, transparently priced, and non-discriminatory. The terms, limits, and redemption rules must also be disclosed upfront.
- Fewer or Lower Claims Over Time
Healthier customers are less likely to face severe lifestyle-related illnesses. This reduces claim outgo for insurers and helps keep pricing more stable over time, which is the basic logic behind wellness incentives.
- Better Retention and Engagement
When rewards are linked to renewal discounts or redeemable perks, policyholders are more likely to renew their plans and stay engaged with the insurer’s app or ecosystem.
- Product Differentiation
In a crowded market, wellness rewards act as a clear differentiator. While hospitalization cover remains the core product, these add-ons help health insurance plans stand out.
Popular Plans With Gym Membership
‘Be-fit’ Add-on in Care Supreme
This add-on gives you access to a wide network of gyms and fitness centers across India through FITPASS. The annual premium is ₹616 for individual plans and ₹1,233 for family floater plans. While it’s marketed as “unlimited access”, we’ve noticed that the number of sessions allowed each month can vary depending on the gym.
WellConsult Add-on in Niva Bupa Aspire
Along with gym access for 2 days a week, it offers a comprehensive set of wellness and OPD benefits through a partner network. It includes tele and video consultations, in-person doctor visits, diagnostics, and pharmacy services, with a flat 20% co-payment for reimbursements. The plan also provides emotional wellness sessions, diet and nutrition coaching, AI-led fitness coaching, global wellness content. The premium for this add-on is ₹4,856.
Wellness Benefit in SBI General Super Health Platinum Infinite
This add-on includes unlimited AI-led personal fitness coaching and dietitian or nutrition e-consultations. The plan also offers an unlimited gym membership, which stays active only if you use the gym at defined intervals. In addition, a Walk Healthy benefit rewards you for tracked daily steps, offering renewal premium discounts of up to 30% through the insurer’s app or partner activity tracker.
BEneFIT Add-on in Tata AIG Medicare Premier
It lets policyholders earn wellness rewards for activities like walking and other fitness efforts, which can be redeemed toward services including gym memberships, fitness items, OPD consultations, pharmacy, health check-ups and diagnostics via the Tata AIG app and its partner network.
Pros and Cons of Selecting Health Insurance Wellness Programs
Pros:
- Encourages Preventive Health: These programs nudge you to stay active through gyms, step goals, or health coaching, which can help reduce lifestyle-related illnesses over time.
- Potential Cost Savings: Completing fitness targets can earn renewal discounts, reward points, or vouchers, helping lower your effective premium.
- Added everyday Value: Benefits like Tele-OPD consultations, mental health support, nutrition coaching, and fitness access add value beyond rare hospitalisations.
- Better Engagement with Health: Regular tracking makes you more aware of your habits, which can motivate healthier choices.
Cons:
- Benefits May Not Suit Everyone: If you don’t use gyms, apps, or trackers, these features may go unused despite paying a higher premium.
- Conditional Rewards: Discounts and perks often depend on meeting strict, trackable goals, which may be hard to sustain.
- Limited Partner Networks: Gym or wellness access is usually restricted to listed partners, which may not be convenient for all locations.
- Add-ons Can be Discontinued: If wellness benefits are offered as an add-on, there’s always a chance they may be withdrawn or modified in the future if the insurer decides to do so.
Why Choose Ditto for Health Insurance?
At Ditto, we’ve assisted over 8,00,000 customers with choosing the right insurance policy. Why customers like Pallavi below love us:
- No-Spam & No Salesmen
- Rated 4.9/5 on Google Reviews by 15,000+ happy customers
- Backed by Zerodha
- Dedicated Claim Support Team
- 100% Free Consultation
Confused about the right insurance? Speak to Ditto’s certified advisors for free, unbiased guidance. Book your call now, slots fill up fast!
Ditto’s Take on Health Insurance With Gym Memberships
Health insurance plans with gym memberships can be a nice bonus, but they shouldn’t drive your buying decision. At Ditto, we see these wellness benefits as nice to have add-ons, not substitutes for solid hospitalization covers.
If you already work out regularly and enjoy tracking fitness goals, these plans can help you save a bit or stay motivated. But if gym visits or apps aren’t part of your routine, you may end up paying extra for benefits you never use. Always prioritize the core benefits, limits, and claim experience in the long run.
Note: To know the methodology behind why certain plans are recommended, refer to Ditto’s Cut and Framework.
Frequently Asked Questions
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