Memory Fitness Offerings Jump 38% as MA Insurers Promote Mind-Body Wellness

Nearly three years ago, when insurers were in the early days of experimenting with new offerings under CMS’s reinterpretation of “primarily health related” supplemental benefits, very few plans were offering benefits specifically geared toward “memory fitness.” Now, a new Faegre Drinker analysis shows that these benefit offerings will be featured in more than 1,300 plan benefit packages (PBPs) next year —an increase of 38% over 2022.

Henry Mahncke, Ph.D., CEO of Posit Science Corp. — the maker of BrainHQ online brain training exercises — says this trajectory reflects a growing recognition by insurers that the mind and body are connected and a growing interest in whole person care. And Mahncke says it’s notable that one in four plans in the Faegre Drinker analysis that offer a physical fitness program now also offer a memory fitness program, making it the fastest-growing category of fitness benefits. “It’s exciting for us to see that more and more plans are realizing, ‘If I’m offering a physical fitness benefit, I need to be offering a memory fitness benefit as well. My customers want and expect that a supplemental benefits package is going to take care of their brain and body,’” he tells AIS Health, a division of MMIT.