Well-being enhancement company Healthways ( HWAY - Analyst Report ) and Coventry Health Care ( ) recently revealed an understanding to provide the SilverSneakers Fitness Program to Coventry’s qualified Medicare Advantage enrollees in 13 states. Starting from January 1, 2013, as per a three year deal, SilverSneakers will become available to enrollees in the states of Wyoming, Utah, Oklahoma, Texas, Nebraska, North Carolina, Ohio, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Missouri, Kansas and Illiniois.

Coventry has provided fitness regimens to its Medicare Advantage enrollees since 2009. Coventry and Healthways started their relationship in 2012 by providing SilverSneakers to eligible Coventry enrollees in Florida.

For health plans inclusive of SilverSneakers provision, Coventry’s Medicare Advantage enrollees will have complete and free access to SilverSneakers facilities throughout the U.S.

Bethesda, Maryland based Coventry Health Care is a large managed health care company. The company provides a complete portfolio of fee based and risk products including Medicare programs.

The Healthways model encourages people to make favorable lifestyle changes that lead to enhanced well-being, reduced healthcare costs, improved performance and economic value for customers. The company has invested in technology platforms that provide scalable support with large populations. It has tie-ups with a large proportion of U.S. health plans and counts many millions of lives in its customer base.

Due to its unique scalable business model, Healthways shares may present a long-term investment opportunity, although it faces many challenges in the short term.

Healthways is the leader in a strategically critical and rapidly evolving part of the health care services market. Its fitness program (SilverSneakers) for seniors is available at over 15,000 centers across the U.S. and is available to over nine million eligible enrollees through Medicare Supplement, Medicare Advantage plans and group retiree plans. Healthways competes with Express Scripts ( ESRX - Analyst Report ) among others.

We currently have an Outperform recommendation on Healthways. The stock retains a Zacks #1 Rank, which translates into a short-term Strong Buy rating.