Truemed’s Calley Says: The Fitness Industry Has an Opportunity for the Health of the Next Generation

A former nutritionist, Means believes fitness brands can emerge as important players in the national health debate, especially under new leadership in the White House.

For Calley Means, exercise is medicine.

Co-founder of telehealth platform Truemed, Means spoke at a recent Eudemonia conference, where he blasted America’s health care system as broken and corrupt while calling for reform of a system that was will prioritize healthy eating and physical fitness over pharmaceutical interventions such as Ozempic to combat chronic disease across the country. -complications of death.

Supporter of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s “Make America Healthy Again” movement. with unofficial ties to presidential candidate Donald Trump’s campaign, Means could be a controversial figure. Means is also highly opinionated, and has a different view of how the fitness industry should stand to gain more respect among Washington lawmakers.

Athletech News caught up with Means behind Eudemonia to get his thoughts on exercise and the future of health care.

Adequacy as Medically Necessary

With more Americans overweight and/or sicker than ever before, Means calls on exercisers to play a bigger role in improving people’s lives.

“We’re in a metabolic health crisis that’s going to devastate the United States of America — fitness is the way out of that,” Means told ATN. “There’s an opportunity for the fitness industry to, with one word, define what it’s all about for a healthy lifestyle.”

Although direct government subsidies for gym memberships may seem like a pipe dream at this point, there are ways to reduce the cost of exercising. Means points out that Americans can use tax-free money from health savings accounts (HSAs) and flexible spending accounts (FSAs) to buy things like gym memberships, exercise equipment and -supplements.

To use HSA/FSA money for health and wellness, Americans must obtain a letter of medical necessity, or LMN, from a doctor, certifying that the specified services are used to prevent or treat chronic disease.

“The National Institute of Health and Exercise and every exercise … should teach every American to seek a medical certificate for exercise from their doctor if they are working to prevent or reverse some level,” Means said.

The rise of Truemed

According to Means, around 80% of Americans have the ability to use an HSA/FSA but only 40% do so.

To encourage greater use of HSA/FSA funds, in 2022 Means founded Truemed, a telehealth platform that enables people to use tax-free money to pay for health, wellness and health products.

“We started a company looking at this increase in Adderall and Viagra being ordered online,” Means recalls. “And we were like, ‘Can we use the same system to provide broccoli, Omega-3s and Pelotons?’

In fact, Truemed ​​speeds up the LMN acquisition process, removing time and friction from the purchasing process. When people want to buy products from exercise bikes to yoga memberships online, they can click on the “pay with HSA/FSA funds” option to be redirected to the Truemed ​​website.

“Our innovation is to incorporate telehealth education into the payment system,” Means explained. Just like a (financial) firm asks a few credit questions, we ask a few health questions.”

In the two years since its founding, Truemed ​​has established itself as one of the leading players in the growing fitness-as-wellness movement, partnering with brands including Peloton, 24 Hour Fitness, Hyperice and AG1.

“We work with 18 of the top 20 Shopify health and wellness merchants,” said Means. “Almost every direct-to-consumer company that was on our wish list when we started the company … merged with us.”

Fighting for Money

Truemed’s fight is nothing new in the fitness industry – the American Health and Medical Association, formerly IHRSA, has been fighting to pass the PHIT Act, a bill that would make members of gyms and sports young people are considered qualified medical expenses under the HSA. /FSA, effectively surpassing the demand for services such as Truemed.

Means, a former food and drug industry executive who turned after his mother died of pancreatic cancer, is skeptical that the PHIT Act will ever pass. passed, citing the influence of pharmaceutical companies in Washington and their interest in making sure that such a bill never happens. he sees the light of day.

Instead, Means argues that platforms like Truemed ​​are more effective. As they become more widely used, eventually, a wider pool of HSA/FSA money may be available for Americans to use for health, wellness and wellness.

“Right now, there are $150 billion in flexible funds available,” Means said, citing the current pool of HSA/FSA funds nationwide. “In five years, it should be billions.”

There is no doubt that the road to improving the lives of Americans is long and difficult. It certainly won’t be solved in one presidential cycle, no matter how conservative and his allies are on Trump’s promise of major health reform.

But the co-founder of Truemed ​​hopes that every advancement will help, and that it will make it more affordable for Americans to get a healthy and active life. beauty is a good first step.

“Everybody throws up their hands and says, ‘People don’t want to exercise, they don’t want to take supplements, they don’t want to eat healthy,'” Means said, a return the argument that the health of Americans. problems are caused by laziness not economics. “I assure you, if we spend more money and more medical attention on these root causes, there will be a revolution in American health.”