Even members of Congress are slyly asking for help canceling their kids\u2019 gym memberships. Here\u2019s why making it easier to cancel could be the first of many bridges to advancing the fitness industry in D.C<\/p>\n
The fitness industry can walk into Washington, D.C., with something most sectors would envy: bipartisan goodwill.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s no small feat, particularly for an industry that\u2019s still relatively young.<\/p>\n
The bigger question, posed onstage at the ATN Innovation Summit 2026<\/a> by the Health & Fitness Association (HFA), is whether goodwill is the same thing as trust.<\/p>\n It was the main theme of a panel moderated by HFA interim president and CEO Greta Wagner that included HFA chief of staff Mike Goscinski and vice president of research Anton Severin.<\/p>\n First, the positive news: Severin, HFA\u2019s vice president of research, reiterated not just the interest of lawmakers and policymakers in fitness and wellness, but the momentum behind it.<\/p>\n The group came with numbers. In a survey of Washington policymakers conducted earlier this year, the association tested attitudes toward 14 industries. Fitness and exercise came out on top, with a reputation score of 78 out of 100, ahead of tech, automotive and hospitality, and well ahead of pharmaceuticals, health insurance and hospital systems.<\/p>\n \u201cWe really start from a position of relative reputational strength,\u201d Severin said, a spot he noted is rare for any industry sitting across the table from regulators.<\/p>\n It\u2019s also helped advance joint work among the HFA, the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Defense, resulting in a newly launched voluntary program offering free gym access and optional coaching to any recruit in the armed services branches.<\/p>\n However, many policymakers don\u2019t yet trust the industry, and there\u2019s a big reason why.<\/p>\n Per HFA, 55% of policymakers said they believe the industry is committed to fair and transparent membership practices, which means nearly half do not. Additionally, 44% of policymakers agreed with the statement that the industry makes it hard to cancel or change a membership, and only 10% disagreed. <\/p>\n Among the general public, the numbers are worse: roughly two-thirds say canceling a gym membership is too hard.<\/p>\n For Goscinski, none of that came as a surprise. He described introducing himself to a lawmaker, only to be met with an unrelated request.<\/p>\n \u201cThe first thing out of their mouth is, \u2018Can you help me get my son or daughter out of their gym membership,\u2019\u201d he said, a request that puts him on his back foot before a meeting even starts.<\/p>\n \u201cNo matter what I say \u2014 from that moment on \u2014 it doesn\u2019t matter, because immediately there\u2019s the perception that \u2018well, are you trying to drive more people into a system that\u2019s not going to let them out?\u2019\u201d Goscinski said.<\/p>\n It\u2019s a scenario that hits at the core of the ongoing, and at times murky, click-to-cancel debate. Though the Federal Trade Commission\u2019s click-to-cancel rule would have required canceling a membership to be as easy as signing up, it was vacated by a federal appeals court in July 2025<\/a>. Even without a federal rule in place, cancellation practices remain subject to existing consumer protection laws at the federal and state levels. It\u2019s also a fight that isn\u2019t going away. New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani put Big Apple fitness operators on notice earlier this year<\/a>, citing his mission to end hidden junk fees and subscription traps.<\/p>\n \u201cYou don\u2019t need more data to prove that point. We all know it,\u201d Goscinski said, recounting policymaker feedback. Instead, members of Congress say they need to understand that the industry is trustworthy enough to be recommended as part of preventive health infrastructure.<\/p>\n In order to ensure the fitness industry gets a bigger seat at the table in D.C., HFA is also focusing on economics. The organization released a first-of-its-kind study on GLP-1s that models the government\u2019s return on investment when weight-loss medication is paired with physical activity \u2013 savings that span healthcare savings and longevity.<\/p>\n In many ways, policymakers are a lot like business owners, he noted.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re looking for that ROI; they\u2019re looking to make sure that the decisions they make tomorrow actually have a return on their investment,\u201d Goscinski said.<\/p>\n Wagner closed by returning to where the conversation started. The industry begins from strength, she said, and now has to earn the rest by behaving as if it deserves the trust, setting standards, raising them, and, pointedly, not making people fight to leave.<\/p>\n That includes, she added, not making it a difficult process for fitness consumers to cancel.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve all been there when we\u2019ve done an online subscription and trying to cancel, and how frustrating it is,\u201d Wagner said. \u201cWe should be the industry (where) people can talk to somebody, and it can be handled, and the matter can be taken care of quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n This article is based on a live discussion held during the\u00a0ATN Innovation Summit 2026<\/a>, a two-day event dedicated to the future of fitness and wellness. See\u00a0here<\/a>\u00a0for More Innovation Summit coverage.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Even members of Congress are slyly asking for help canceling their kids\u2019 gym memberships. 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