Big life insurer shifts to activity tracking in health push

Author: AFP

Financial giant John Hancock is converting all its life insurance policies to an incentive-based system using activity tracking, a move aimed at promoting healthier lifestyles but which also raises privacy questions.

The Boston-based insurer announced Thursday that it would immediately begin moving life insurance policies to a “behavior change platform that rewards customers for the everyday steps they take to live longer, healthier lives.”

Policyholders will be asked to sign up online for fitness and nutritional advice, or may get premium discounts for using devices such as Fitbit or Apple Watch to monitor daily activities.

“For centuries, the insurance model has primarily provided financial protection for families after death, without enhancing the very quality it hinges on: life,” said Marianne Harrison, John Hancock president and chief executive.

“We fundamentally believe life insurers should care about how long and well their customers live. With this decision, we are proud to become the only US life insurance company to fully embrace behavioral-based wellness and leave the old way of doing business behind.”

One of the largest US life insurers, John Hancock said the new offering is aimed at countering unhealthy lifestyles including physical inactivity, poor diet, excessive alcohol use and smoking blamed for most premature deaths, and expressed hope that other companies would follow suit.

The company, a division of Manulife of Canada, said it believes people who use these kinds of wellness and activity tracking programs will live longer with lower medical bills compared with those who do not use these systems.

The latest effort stems from a partnership agreed in 2015 between Hancock and Vitality, part of the South Africa-based financial group Discovery Limited which offers incentive-based wellness programs.

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