Purpose Brands – the company formed by the merger of Self Esteem Brands and Orangetheory Fitness – has teamed up with the Dr B telehealth service to offer medical consultations to its members.

During an online consultation, Dr B helps consumers and existing members determine whether the dollars in their Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) and Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs) are sufficient to cover their monthly health club memberships, personal training services and more.

The service is now available at Anytime Fitness, Orangetheory and Basecamp Fitness and the option will come on stream at The Bar Method before the end of the year.

The Dr B telehealth service is active across the US and routinely helps patients get affordable care and everyday prescriptions.

In addition to offering US$15 consultations for a wide range of conditions and dynamic longevity programmes, Dr B also works with fitness industry leaders to bring healthcare and exercise closer together with accessible tools and treatments to promote an active, healthy lifestyle.

“There’s no question that exercise plays a huge role in improving health, and we’re seeing more and more patients looking into how they can use their HSA or FSA accounts to cover fitness expenses,” said Cyrus Massoumi, founder and CEO of Dr B.

“We connect people with licensed providers who help determine if fitness can support their health condition and our platform handles the medical and compliance steps behind the scenes, so patients can trust the process and get the paperwork they need," he said. "We’re excited to work with Purpose Brands to help more people access affordable ways to support their health through movement.”

“Exercise is medicine, and we must do whatever we can to make it more accessible and affordable for all Americans,” says Nick Herrild, US president of Anytime Fitness. “We need to move fitness more closely to the healthcare equation for all Americans and this is a strong step in that direction. We’re thrilled Dr B can offer services to help them cover those costs.”

The Health and Fitness Association has long been campaigning for the PHIT Act, which would have expanded the way in which HSA and FSA dollars could be used, enabling them to be used to cover things such as health club memberships, however, after being passed by the House of Representatives earlier this year, the proposed legislation was thrown out by the Senate.

Co-founder of Anytime Fitness, Chuck Runyon is interviewed in the current issue of HCM. He talks candidly about how he and Dave Mortenson had to part company with the third co-founder of Anytime Fitness following a difference of opinion on how to run the business.