Email From APS - Grouper Covers Your APS Activities

Got an email this morning from APS announcing their Partnership with Grouper. A few excerpts:

"As you may have heard, Grouper provides benefits to APS members aged 65+ for participating in group activities. "

"Here's how our partnership with Grouper works:

If you have an eligible Medicare Advantage or Medicare Supplement plan, you qualify;
You receive a $50 annual check from Grouper;
You receive $20 wellness payments every three months just for staying active."

At first glance, it looks like a pretty good deal for us geriatrics - basically cover your APS dues and get a little free money to boot. However, I am always a bit leery of providing my personal info to yet another entity without learning more about it (which I'm doing now) and hearing what others have to say.

Does anyone have experience with Grouper; if so, any comments? TIA.

National Model Railroad Association, Inc., a US-based nonprofit corporation promoting scale model railroading in North America, the UK, Europe, and Australia, of which I am a corporate director, has worked with Grouper for about six months. It's a reputable company. We've added about 200 members to our roster of 15,000. The main issue is that not all healthcare insurance and Medicare supplement plans offer a "social health" benefit, which Grouper would use to pay APS dues, less a fee. I would guess that at least half of our members interested in having Grouper cover their NMRA dues have found they don't qualify.

Two updates on this based on information I received from Grouper via a friend.

First, qualifying persons can apply the available benefit to multiple organizations. So, of the $100 2024 maximum benefit, you could apply part to APS and part to another activity. An example might be an exercise program at the YMCA, which many locations offer. You can divide the payment as you prefer since you control it. You could do $50 and $50 or whatever. Thus, this potentially has a much bigger benefit for people than they might think.

Next, in 2025 the total available benefit increases to $130, paid as an initial $50 and then $20 each quarter for 4 quarters if Grouper receives confirmation of participation from APS or the other organizations you designate. Grouper requests these confirmations independently as they're mandatory for the government to pay Grouper.

Thanks for the additional info.

APS and "over 65" is extremely on-brand