How Wearable Fitness Devices Are Influencing Health Insurance Premiums

The Rise of Wearable Health Tracker Devices

As per the report by ‘Grand View Research’, the global wearable technology market is currently valued at USD 84.2 billion and projected to grow at a CAGR ( Compounded Annual Growth Rate) to reach USD 186.14 billion by 2030.

Wearable device adoption is also skyrocketing in India, with prominent players like BoAt, Noise, Apple, Xiaomi and Samsung. Their fitness devices are far beyond just trendy gadgets. They are valuable health tools that monitor steps walked, calories burned, heart rate, blood oxygen and sleep quality. Some advanced devices even monitor blood pressure and ECG readings.

Influence of Wearable Devices on Health Insurance Premium

Traditionally, health insurance companies assess the risk and determine the premium based on factors like age, lifestyle, health history, occupation and more. Wearable devices are helping health insurance companies do a smart assessment of risk with real-time health data instead of relying on past health history. Hence, better risk assessment, transparent pricing and claim reduction are the major benefits for the insurance companies.

Here is how wearable devices influence your health insurance premiums:

Personalised Underwriting

Wearable health devices provide real-time, dynamic health data. Continuous health insights like activity levels, heart rate, sleep patterns, etc., help insurers do personalised health risk assessment and come up with precise pricing. Personalised underwriting based on the dynamic assessment model ensures fair pricing of your health insurance coverage than traditional underwriting based on broad assumptions.

Encourages Healthy Habits

Wearable fitness devices encourage a healthy lifestyle and physical activity that promotes overall wellness. Under the wellness program, your health insurance company rewards you for achieving fitness goals by giving cashback and premium discounts. For example, if you achieve 10,000 steps every day, it is considered an ‘active day’ and you are rewarded a certain percentage discount on the premium for active days. The model of incentivising healthy habits cultivates the culture of preventive healthcare and boosts long-term well-being by reducing the potential risk of chronic diseases.

Helps in Preventive Care and Early Diagnosis

Wearable fitness devices and health trackers help in the early diagnosis of potential health issues such as arrhythmia, sleep disorders, etc. Timely intervention and early care can prevent the severity of health issues and thereby reduce costly claims. Wearables help you manage your health properly, reducing health insurance costs with a reduced likelihood of expensive claims. This dynamic approach is beneficial for both you and your insurance company.

Many health insurance companies in India offer premium discounts and reward programs based on wearable integrated data. At Jio Insurance Broking, you can explore various health insurance policies offered by different health insurance companies that offer a reward program based on wearables-driven data. You can compare their benefits, coverage, features and cost to analyse which one best suits your needs. You can make a rational and affordable choice at Jio Insurance Broking with comparison shopping.

Challenges and Data Privacy Concerns

Integration of wearable fitness devices is a promising model in health insurance. However, it is not without challenges. Policyholders can have concerns regarding the way health insurance companies handle their health data. Wearable fitness devices can also misread health, such as heart rate, steps, etc., and inaccurate data can lead to a false assessment of health. Constant tracking of health data can also create behavioural pressure.

With machine learning and artificial intelligence advancing, wearable fitness devices will further improve and contribute to more accurate health insurance pricing. More advanced features may come, such as stress level tracking, early detection of diabetes and more.

Conclusion

To conclude, wearable fitness devices are transforming the health insurance industry from traditional, broad-assumption-based underwriting to more accurate, dynamic and data-driven underwriting. This is resulting in lower premiums, rewards for a healthy lifestyle and better health outcomes for policyholders. However, it is important for health insurance companies to ensure data privacy, data safety, fair pricing and accuracy. Balancing technology and trust is the key to the future.