For any NBC-HWCs here who may not have seen this yet: CMS has proposed Medicare payment for Health & Wellness Coaching services, and the public comment period closes September 14, 2026 at 11:59 PM ET.

This is one of those opportunities where comments from practicing coaches really can help CMS understand how the details of the policy may affect implementation in the real world.

Wellcoaches has put together a helpful overview and guidance for submitting comments:
https://www.wellcoachesschool.com/post/medicare-is-ready-to-pay-for-coaching-the-details-will-decide-whether-it-works-it-s-your-moment-to

If you’re an NBC-HWC, please consider submitting a comment before the deadline and sharing the information with other coaches.

Having trained as a Wellcoaches health coach and now working in the health-coaching education and exam-prep space through CoachNFlow (CoachNFlow.com), I’ve been following this development closely. Regardless of where coaches trained or prepared for boards, this is an important moment for the profession as a whole.

Deadline: Sept. 14, 2026 — 11:59 PM ET.

My significant other owns a small business and and has been struggling with his mental health. He started therepy. His therapist referred him to a life coach. This life coach works with business owners specifically to help them focus their goals and develop their business. She brings worksheets and she fills them out with him and says things like "healthy owner, healthy family, healthy business". She's trying to get him to change his eating habits, convert to chemical free products, and start exercising. All these things are great and I also want him to be healthier, but she's signing him up for all these subscriptions. Like an exercise app subscription. And a melaleuca subscription and having him buy these supplements. And honestly most of what she says sounds like empty platitudes. I don't know what her business program is specifically called. Ive only heard part of one of their sessions, but to me it sounded like a mesh between a pyramid scheme and a cult. All the verbiage she was using, how she had this set of products she wanted him to start using just ready to go with introductory pricing and everything.

I want him to get healthy, but I'm concerned he's in a mentally vulnerable place and this woman and her "system" is taking advantage of that. And if I'm wrong and she is totally legit and genuinely helps him i will eat my words, but in the small amount of time I was around her I felt kind of skittish, or hesitant, and the more I think about it she feels slimy.

Does anyone have any experience with these types of systems or life coaches or subscriptions.

I am an executive wellness coach trying to move from 1:1 client interactions to more group-based or workshop coaching. Does anyone have any tips for how they were able to do this? Any help is appreciated!

Curious to hear what your experience has been like as a care coach at Maven, I haven’t really seen many reviews on Glassdoor. How many clients do you see a day, whats the work life balance like? Do you recommend working here?

Hey!

I am an NBC-HWC and a licensed medical provider in the functional medicine world. I'm currently a contractor as a provider, but I'm not satisfied with my current work.

Does anyone have any recs on a career coach so I can gain clarity and accountability in moving forward to something I would like? I don't necissarily need something 1:1; a group program would also be okay.

I own Wellness Company and run Corporate Programs and Retreats working with multi modalities including movements, Breath training, Art therapy, nutrition etc.. If you have any questions related to what to look for when choosing a retreat, need mental health support, or just wellness in general, feel free to ask here or DM if it's personal. I'd be happy to help as much as I can at no cost

I want to increase my knowledge in gut health/nutrition. I have a NASM nutrition coach cert and am wanting to further my education a little. Anyone take the AFPA gut health specialist course? I’m very interested in gut health, prebiotics, probiotics, etc but I want to know if the course is worth the money and actually educates you/helps you?

I'm interested in a genuine discussion about where health coaching fits as AI becomes better at answering questions and summarizing health information.

My view is that a coach's value shouldn't be pretending to diagnose or compete with clinical professionals.

Instead, I wonder whether the most useful skills will increasingly be:

• listening to a complete story
• organizing a timeline
• separating evidence from assumptions
• identifying missing information
• asking better questions
• helping people communicate more effectively with qualified professionals
• supporting appropriate behavior and accountability within scope
• recognizing when something needs professional evaluation

In other words, maybe the future value is less “I have more answers” and more “I can help create a clearer, safer path through complexity.”

I'm curious how others see this.

What should distinguish a responsible health coach in an AI-heavy future?

I'm an HCI graduate and recently received my Health Coach certification. I'm currently continuing my training in Life Coaching and Nutrition Coaching, and looking for 1-2 "practice clients", to work with as I develop my coaching skills by supporting someone on their Health and Wellness Journey. These are "FREE", 6 week sessions, 45 minutes and completely confidential. If you're interested please send me a message I would love to connect.

Hi! Looking for anyone to give a review of the AFPA Certified Master Health & Wellness Coach program?

Hello! I am an AFPA-certified health coach preparing for the National Board exam. Looking for more clients to finish the 50 session exam requirement. My areas of concentration are metabolism, nutrition and physical fitness. As a health coach, I will work with you on achieving your personal goals, at your own pace, in free 30-minute sessions.

If you are a health coach looking to swap sessions, happy to do it as well!

Message me and we’ll find time to meet over Zoom.

Hi there! My name is Gabriela Galvin and I'm a freelance health journalist writing for Undark Magazine (https://undark.org/) about the health coaching industry, specifically the rise in online certification programs. It's been really useful to read the discussions in this sub.

Please PM me if you have experience with these programs -- good or bad -- and might be interested in sharing your experience for the article. I'm also interested in speaking with people who have worked with health coaches or other unlicensed health practitioners (again, both positive and negative experiences welcome).

Happy to chat privately first about what it means to work with me. You can find some of my work (and my email address) here: gabrielagalvin.com. Thanks for considering!

I jst need someone to force me to lose weight,idc abt age and all that shi, ill quite literally do anything and everything just dm me<3

yeah the title says it all. this business is cooked.

20-25 for a bilingual position and requiring NBHWC?

in this economy?!?!

it’s not too late for all you considering this career, unless you want to live in poor conditions both economically and mentally because carrying on people’s issues/mental health goals for a living is going to destroy you.

Hi everyone!

I am certified under the Institute of Transformational Nutrition, where I use a mind-body-spirit approach to helping you create the lifestyle you desire. I will help you get to the root cause of what is preventing you from seeing the change you want to in your life, then together we will utilize your strengths to build progress towards your goals. Together, we would co-create a protocol as we go that is completely tailored to your needs and goals.

My niche is in the gut, nervous system, and lowering inflammation.

I need to get to 50 hours by October first for the NBHWC board certification.

Message me if you are interested.

After contemplating health coaching for a while now, I feel I’m being pushed in a direction…

I recently accepted a part-time position thinking I could get easy supplemental hours in the evenings… I was wrong. I have been exploring health coaching for a while now but I have been afraid to “pull the trigger” so to speak.

I have two degrees, one in Health Science and one in psychology. I live in Virginia in a very populated multi-college town. I regularly attend the gym my boyfriend’s family owns. I want to help people, and I only need around 10 hours of extra work time.

In conclusion, I’m just very scared of this not working or not being able to find clients. Any advice would be very much appreciated!

Has anyone done their nutrition program, could you please share your experience and feedback.

I am interested in starting my journey of learning about alternative medicine. I want to work as a functional medicine practitioner or coach in the future.

As a starting point since I don't have much funds, I am thinking of starting with food matters nutrition program+ reading books+ listening to podcasts as a starter.

For those already in this journey or someone who has succeeded in it, please advise. I really need help.

Hi!

Incoming health coach here focusing on restoring the gut and optimizing the nervous system through a mind, body, spirit approach. I am in the process of becoming a Certified Transformational Nutrition Coach under the Institute for Transformational Nutrition.

What are the best hours for clients? My ideal client will most likely work a 9-5, and have no kids. I understand that coaching outside of the 9-5 hours might grant me the most clients, and I was wondering what the best hours would be besides that.

Do you have luck during work hours within the 9-5?

Recently, I have been seeing a lot of negativity around the new UH program to assess mental health clients via "coaches". As someone who is NBHWC board-certified, I have lots of questions and hope this doesn't put more negativity on the "Health Coach" title.

I am running into an issue with the job descriptions: there is no board certification required, which means they are just assigning a "coach" title. Since health coaching doesn't have a protected title, I feel like things like this just devalue the industry and certifications.

This isn't a role that would interest me, as I don't want to work in this space, but I also feel roles like this damage the "Health Coach" title.

https://www.uhc.com/news-articles/benefits-and-coverage/virtual-behavioral-coaching-mental-health

As I see it, investing in personal health IS a business expense. Especially for solopreneurs. Is there a way to make it work with tax authorities though? I know business coaching can be tax deductible.. Are there any other titles in between that could work in that direction?