The Guilderland Chamber of Commerce along with the Colonie and Bethlehem chambers sponsored a health and wellness expo to inform members about new health insurance opportunities available to chamber members through MVP Health Care.
The event took place on Thursday, Oct. 16, at the Holiday Inn Express on Western Avenue.
Matt Walkuski, sales manager at MVP, said the event was designed to promote healthy lifestyles, and wellness in general.
He said the insurance provider is now offering new programs to chamber members, including the Healthyroads Coaching program, which focuses on weight management, tobacco cessation and healthy living, Core Wellness and the WellStyle program.
WellStyle features health counseling by phone.
The expo allowed participants to get free cardiovascular screenings from St. Peters Hospital, receive massage therapy and even play Nintendo Wii games to get some indoor exercise.
`Wii Games [encourage people to] get up and get active,` Walkuski said.
Walkuski said the informational event is the pilot program, and he would like to do it more.
Kathy Burbank, executive director of the Guilderland Chamber, said members could purchase health insurance at a lower group rate rather than buying it directly, and MVP is now offering programs that focus on helping people get healthy.
`These days, one of the best ways to save money on health insurance is to be healthy,` Burbank said. `Many health insurance companies give rewards, cash back, pay gym fees [and offer] massage therapy because healthy people tend to use less insurance.`
MVP is offering a plan exclusive to chamber members where they can get up to $300 cash back for health and wellness activities.
`We are very excited about this product for our members,` Burbank said.
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