Get PHIT: Tools to Design an Awareness Campaign at Your Club for the Personal Health Investment Today Act

Transcription

1 Get PHIT: Tools to Design an Awareness Campaign at Your Club for the Personal Health Investment Today Act 1

2 Contents Introduction and Mission Get PHIT: Awareness Campaign Targeting Club Consumers Toolkit Purpose Communication Tools Sample Blog Post Infographic Series of Tweets and Facts Create Your Own Meme FAQs about PHIT Additional Resources

3 Introduction to Get PHIT Get PHIT: Awareness Campaign Targeting Club Consumers What if your members and prospects could save money on fitness expenses while improving health? If they could pay 20 to 30 percent less for membership and personal training, due to an act of Congress, how would that affect your business? The benefits to you might include: more members joining, current members using more ancillary services, and better member retention. The PHIT Act, which stands for Personal Health Investment Today, is federal legislation that would allow any American to use pre-tax accounts like Health Savings Accounts (HSA) and Flexible Savings Accounts (FSA) to pay for qualified fitness expenses. Currently, the IRS code only allows these accounts to be utilized for medical expenses. By allowing HSAs and FSAs to pay for fitness expenses, Americans will be able to use $1,000 pre-tax for health club memberships or fitness activities; families will be able to budget $2,000. If passed, it is estimated that individuals and families would see a savings of 20 to 30 percent on fitness expenses. 3

4 Introduction to Get PHIT Under the PHIT Act, health club membership is more affordable. Club members will be able to use pre-tax accounts to pay for their memberships the same way they currently use the accounts to pay for prescription medications and doctor visits. Other fitness expenses eligible under the PHIT Act include Little League fees, exercise DVDs and equipment, personal training sessions, and much more. PHIT has bipartisan support in Congress, but we need your help. Get PHIT: By educating your members about PHIT, you can help lay the groundwork for the legislation s success. Awareness Campaign Targeting Club The Get PHIT Campaign is designed to educate members about the importance of passing this legislation, through Consumers having the club play the critical role of the conduit in the education process. As fitness consumers, your members stand to save money and prevent disease if PHIT is successful. Clubs that are familiar with the PHIT Act have an excellent opportunity to spread the word about PHIT and attract broad support for the measure. 4

5 Toolkit Purpose ümake the case for club owners, consumers, and members of Congress for passage of the PHIT Act. How a Get PHIT awareness campaign will work at your club is up to you, but we suggest using the communication tools in this toolkit to educate your staff, members and community about PHIT. This will provide your members with the knowledge base they need for encouraging others to lend additional support. That way, when PHIT advances in Congress, your members will feel confident reaching out to their members of Congress and urging them to support this legislation through an IHRSA Grassroots Advocacy Campaign. üprovide resources to educate consumers about PHIT, federal legislation that increases access to physical activity. üanswer common questions about PHIT. After reading and reviewing this toolkit, you should be able to create an effective communications plan at your club to educate your members about PHIT. 5

6 Communication Tool: Sample Blog Post Your club may have a blog. If it does, consider using this sample blog post on PHIT as a template for how you can communicate with members about this legislation. Don t have a blog? This content can be used in other communications you do use, such as e-newsletters or submissions to your community newspaper. Get PHIT: Support Pro-Physical Activity Legislation Physical inactivity is responsible for one in ten deaths worldwide, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that nearly 80 percent of American adults do not meet the recommended amount of weekly physical activity. These statistics cannot be disputed, but they can be addressed through public policy. Legislation before Congress would make exercise more affordable and accessible for all Americans. The Personal Health Investment Today (PHIT) Act recognizes the value that daily exercise provides for the health of the American people and the stability of our economy. 6 Here are four reasons you should consider supporting PHIT: 6

7 Communication Tool: Sample Blog Post 1. If passed, PHIT would allow individuals to pay for fitness expenses, such as health club membership or youth sports league fees, using their pre-tax Health Savings Account (HSA) or Flexible Savings Account (FSA). By expanding the legal definition of a medical expense to one that includes physical activity, a leading preventative health measure, you can budget for fitness expenses the same way you pay for prescriptions and co-pays. 2. You could save 20 to 30 percent on fitness expenses, such as club dues, under PHIT. 3. PHIT enjoys broad bipartisan support in Congress, as judging by the number of legislators that have cosponsored the bill. 4. PHIT would incentivize others to participate in fitness, which is critical because $117 billion in annual health care costs are associated with inadequate physical activity, including costs to publically funded programs like Medicare and Medicaid. We will continue to monitor progress on PHIT, and when it advances in Congress, we will send you information on contacting your representatives to support PHIT. Learn more about PHIT. 7 7

8 Communication Tool: Infographic Infographics are effective at presenting new concepts in an engaging manner. IHRSA designed an infographic on PHIT that you may use as part of your member communications. Download the infographic. We also created a pre-written tweet to share on Twitter. 8 8

9 Communication Tool: Series of Tweets and Facts IHRSA has put together a series of tweets (seven days) that you may use to build awareness of PHIT. You may also consult our downloadable fact sheet for additional talking points: Why Passing PHIT and WHIP Increases Access to Exercise. 1. You could save 20 to 30 percent on fitness expenses like gym membership with passage of the PHIT Act #PassPHIT See pre-written tweet in 2 adults live with a chronic disease, but only half of adults get adequate exercise #PassPHIT See pre-written tweet in 10 voters want Congress to #PassPHIT, creating tax incentives for fitness. Do you? See pre-written tweet. 4. Under PHIT, club dues, personal training, school pay2play activities could be paid for with pre-tax $! #PassPHIT See pre-written tweet. 5. Physical activity is the closest thing we have to a wonder drug CDC s Dr. Tom Frieden. #PassPHIT See pre-written tweet. 6. Research says exercising 5 days/wk saves you $2500 in annual medical costs. Great reason to #PassPHIT See pre-written tweet. 7. Congress is considering financial incentives for physical fitness #PassPHIT See pre-written tweet. 9 9

10 Communication Tool: Create Your Own Meme Memes are symbols that can be universally recognized on the internet. Often, they are humorous or intriguing pictures accompanied by a written message. To communicate the value of PHIT to your members, consider creating your own meme by using this free site. There, you can upload your favorite images or use the image search tool, add your company logo, add text, and perfect your meme to share on social media. The Share & Download button links to Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, and allows you to save the meme as an attachment. (Images in the Pablo search tool have Creative Commons Zero license, allowing general and commercial use without the need to obtain copyright permissions.) 10 10

11 FAQs About PHIT Which fitness expenses would be covered under PHIT? Which expenses would not be eligible? Eligible fitness expenses: Health club memberships, personal training services, exercise DVDs, exercise equipment, exercise competition fees (e.g. 5k entrance fee, marathon), yoga and other group fitness classes, sports camps and clinics But not: Golf, sailing, and horseback riding expenses, or items that can be utilized outside of sport/exercise (e.g. sneakers) What would PHIT cost? IHRSA met with the Congressional Joint Committee on Taxation and requested a score for the PHIT Act, which determines the total cost of implementing the bill over a ten year period. The bill was scored in July 2014 at a cost of $2.5 billion over ten years. The reason why PHIT would cost the government money is that contributions to pre-tax accounts are subtracted from income tax meaning the individual (or employer) pays less in taxes. That said, IHRSA takes the position that the investment in PHIT is well worth PHIT s cost since health care costs will decline as a result of increased physical activity. Physical inactivity costs $117 billion in annual health care costs, and, two thirds of Medicare spending benefits persons with chronic conditions. Further, the cost of of PHIT over ten years is less than 1/1000 th of one percent of the annual federal budget

12 FAQs About PHIT Other than cost, what are the arguments opposing PHIT? IHRSA has found that some members of Congress and their staff are concerned that PHIT would primarily benefit higher-income Americans who have access to pre-tax accounts through their employer, have enough income to deposit into the accounts, and have the resources to join a health club or engage in leisure activities. To counter this argument, note that middle and lower-income Americans purchasing insurance through the government exchanges have access to pre-tax medical accounts. In fact, some of the least expensive options on the exchanges are plans that come with a Health Savings Account. In addition, PHIT helps families of different incomes pay for kids sports that are increasingly pay to play. There is also the concern that individuals should put money aside for traditional medical costs, such as prescriptions and doctor visits, instead of physical activity costs

13 Additional Resources Please contact IHRSA s public policy team about any questions you may have when you are designing and implementing your Get PHIT education campaign. You can reach us at gr@ihrsa.org. The CDC has important facts and figures on the connection between physical activity and health care costs. Download the CDC infographic Physical Activity Builds a Healthy and Strong America. Health Benefits of Exercise Report, ed bi-weekly, contains the latest shareable information about the benefits of exercise. The IHRSA Advocate, ed bi-weekly, contains the latest public policy news for the health club industry

14 IHRSA helps health clubs improve profitability, grow, and stay competitive by providing unique networking and educational opportunities, industry benchmarking, and health promotion tools, so IHRSA members can help their communities lead healthier lifestyles. For more information on how IHRSA can help your business succeed, or call Connect with IHRSA International Health, Racquet & Sportsclub Association 70 Fargo Street Boston, MA USA (US/Canada) or (International) 14 ihrsa.org