Estimated reading time: 6 minutes

If we ignore the messy middle, we’re not leading, we’re just marketing

There is a phrase floating around the CrossFit space right now: “as we transition to Medicine 3.0…”

where did 1.0 and 2.0 go?

Let me pause you right there. When did 1.0 and 2.0 happen? Did I miss a software update? Was there a patch note somewhere between “health is fitness” and “now we crowd-fund your hospital bill”?

what are we talking about

What they’re talking about: once you wade through the word salad, isn’t insurance. Not really. It’s an initiative from the CrossFit Medical Society called “Community Care.” Sounds sweet, right? It’s being positioned as a way for CrossFit coaches to finally access affordable healthcare. And in theory? Sure. That sounds noble. Long overdue, even.

It looks like it was built for the healthiest of the healthy. It’s a crowdfunding platform dressed up in CrossFit lingo. A safety net, not a system. Now granted, the goal is to work towards being the healthy of the healthiest. And I have no doubt for a smaller percentage of the community it might just be a great option. But for the majority? I have my doubts.

That’s not terrible, but its important to understand crowdfunding and Obamacare are not the same. One is a federal policy. Let’s not confuse actual legislation. What’s more concerning is how this model is being promoted, loudly, proudly, and by people who represent the interests of affiliates. The word Obamacare is actually being used. Ultimately, this is my primary concern.

Let’s set the record straight: the Affordable Care Act covers pre-existing conditions. Full stop. Insurance companies can’t turn you away, hike up your rates, or play games with your medical history. Whether it’s diabetes, asthma, sleep apnea, or anything else you walked in with, they’re legally required to cover it. That’s one of the biggest wins of the ACA. Community Care doesn’t not allow membership if you have any pre-existing conditions. This includes pregnancy.

CrowdHealth—the engine behind this whole “Medicine 3.0” hype train, functions like a healthcare sharing ministry with better branding. You pay in. You pay upfront. Then you cross your fingers and hope the crowd pays you back. You’re always on the hook for the first $500. After that? It’s still risky, still conditional, and still not guaranteed.

the gap we keep ignoring

We need to get honest about the fact that many coaches in this community do not have consistent access to healthcare. Many are living gig to gig, coaching multiple classes at multiple gyms, with zero benefits and no backup plan. The irony is hard to miss. We are the people tasked with helping others get healthy while we silently ignore our own needs, our own stress loads, our own fatigue. So when someone comes in shouting about “Medicine 3.0,” forgive me if I raise an eyebrow. Because the real medicine we need? It doesn’t start with a new platform. It starts with acknowledging the gap between health and the journey to it.

we forgot why we started

CrossFit was never supposed to be about perfection. It was about effort. About showing up. About reclaiming what our bodies can do, no matter where we’re starting from. So if our new version of healthcare only serves the end result, the lean, the optimized, the already thriving, then we are reinforcing the same systemic failure that brought people to CrossFit in the first place. People didn’t walk through our doors already fixed. They came in broken, scared, curious, hopeful. And they found a methodology that said, “Yes. You belong here.”

This new platform isn’t even something I could consider for Scaled Nation because obesity (by itself) is considered a pre-existing condition. Their pre-existing condition list is actually quite long and complicated.

from storytelling to selling

Somewhere along the way, we stopped telling stories. We started focusing more on what we could package and sell. More on the workouts than the people doing them. We got obsessed with standards and performance but forgot the people behind them. And now, even our “healthcare solution” reflects that drift. It is not designed for the broken. It is built for the already-repaired.

We say we want to bring more people in, but our systems are often built around who is already here.

support the journey. not just the destination.

Belonging cannot stop at the mat. It has to extend behind the scenes. To the coaches who haven’t seen a doctor in three years. To the affiliate owners who can’t afford dental. To the staffer quietly rationing medication so they can keep coaching.

If we are serious about community care, we must support the journey. Not just the destination. If we are going to call this the place where people get healthy, then we have to commit to the long, uncomfortable, unglamorous middle.

it’s never just one thing

Building a path means recognizing that chronic disease or obesity is not born from a single behavior. It is not just sugar. It is not just movement. It is not just sleep or stress or genes. It is all of it, stacked and layered and compounded over time. Medicine 3.0, if it means anything at all, should start with acknowledging the whole picture. The socioeconomic barriers. The trauma histories. The emotional burdens. The healthcare gaps. The fatigue of trying to keep up. If you want to help someone reclaim their health, you start by handing them a hand.

protect the humans, not just the image

That means offering actual coverage. Not just a catastrophic backup plan for the genetically gifted. It means building systems that serve the 52-year-old coach with hypertension and the 29-year-old single mom with sleep apnea trying to keep her L1 job while juggling two other gigs. It means understanding that coaches in this community exist in all shapes, sizes, and health conditions. Some are recovering. Some are managing chronic illness. Some are fighting like hell just to stay afloat. But they are still coaches. Still showing up. Still changing lives. It means not just applauding health but protecting the humans working toward it, in every body they come in.

We have to stop selling people a mountaintop when we’re not willing to build them a path. Otherwise, it is not Medicine 3.0. It is Marketing 101.

back to version zero

And maybe that is the whole point. We don’t need the next flashy version. This is essentially a rebirth and pivot from “Precision Care”. A failure not because it wasn’t a good idea. It wasn’t sustainable.

We need to remember version zero. The beginning. The why. We need to stop chasing innovation so fast that we forget the foundation. The basics.

Because the future of health won’t be found in the next roll out or product launch. It will be found in the box with the leaky roof, where someone shows up anyway. It will be found in the coach whose BMI is too high, who’s managing borderline diabetes, but still shows up early, stays late, and helps the next person in line. The coach who stays after class because someone is struggling; not because it’s their job, but because it’s who they are. It will be found in the messy, imperfect, deeply human middle.

Get back to that and we won’t need to sell the mission or be pressured to “get on board….it’s best for all the affiliates….”.

We’ll be living it.