Manulife policy to link to fitness tracking devices

Manulife Financial is introducing a policy that will reward customers who make healthy lifestyle choices. The Canadian-based insurer will issue policyholder with a fitness device to track activity giving an initial discount when they sign up and award points towards further discounts for actions such as trips to the gym or having a flu shot or annual physical. 

Go the gym and get healthy, and get a discount on your life insurance?

Manulife Financial Corp. thinks there are enough Canadians who would see this as an attractive incentive that they are introducing a policy that involves wearing a fitness device to track activity.

“It revolutionizes the insurance market in Canada,” said Marianne Harrison, president and CEO of Manulife Canada. “It’s a new perspective in terms of looking at consumers and helping them to lead long healthy lives.”

Manulife, which is partnering with Vitality Group, will offer different levels, requiring various levels of commitment – and in return get discounts on their premiums and rewards at retailers.

This is not the first time an insurer has asked consumers to give up information in exchange for a discount. In 2014, Desjardins Insurance introduced the Ajusto program in Ontario, where a device is installed in vehicles, measuring speed, time of day use and other driving habits.

The final details of the new life insurance policy are still being worked out, but Manulife’s subsidiary John Hancock brought it in last year in the United States. The average premium reduction has been between 7 and 15 per cent. Hancock gave out a Fitbit to each policy holder.

Harrison said Canadian policy holders will get an initial discount when they sign up, and then can earn points toward discounts on premiums in future years. Every individual will be given a fitness tracking device, but the brand has not been finalized.

“The concept of wearable technology and exercise is just one component,” she said, adding people can accumulate points by swiping in when they go to the gym, reporting getting annual physicals or a flu shot.

The information would be added into an app. “This is up to the customer to give us the information. If you don’t want us to have the information, we don’t get the information,” Harrison added.

When asked whether people could lie to the insurer or put a tracking device on their dog, Harrison said she doesn’t believe people will try to game the system.

“The program is to help people with their wellness needs,” she said. “People want to do this.”

But privacy experts have expressed concerns about wearable devices that can deliver very personal health information.

“It can be a useful tool for the individual to incentivize them to do more,” said Ann Cavoukian, executive director of the Privacy and Big Data Institute at Ryerson University. “The problem is once this gets into the hands of employers, insurers and others, it’s not clear that people understand this could impact them in ways they hadn’t contemplated.

“People, when they begin, are very optimistic. They’re going to do 10,000 steps a day—all of the New Year’s resolutions things,” she said. “It might come back in ways that could bite you.”

Cavoukian argued if individuals decided to participate, that’s up to them, but they need to understand exactly what they are consenting to, and whether others will have access to their information.

“Privacy is not about secrecy. It’s about control,” she said. “I would submit 99.9 per cent know nothing about this, and are clueless about this.”

Harrison declined to comment on privacy concerns with wearable devices, but argued that Manulife has managed privacy of their clients’ information for more than 125 years.

“As you can imagine, we get a lot of private information in terms of medical records on an ongoing basis,” she said. “This would be treated in the same way, ensuring all that information is private.”

Harrison added Vitality participants wouldn’t be penalized for not meeting health targets, adding premiums would not exceed someone who has a regular policy. “It would revert back to a typical policy. The goal is not having premiums going high,” she said.

Emily Taylor, senior analyst at IDC Canada, who studies the use of wearable devices in Canada, believes demand for these fitness trackers will continue to grow, especially as new applications are developed.

“We do expect good growth with respect all these types of devices, as Canadians gain more comfort,” she said.

While some reports have suggested that the devices end up in drawers after a few months, Taylor said partnerships with insurers and corporate wellness programs can spur demand. “They are good way to keep them on wrists,” she said.

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Manulife Financial Corp. isn’t the only company that sees potential for fitness monitors beyond counting steps and hours of sleep. Here are other companies trying something unique.

Keeping management moving

The Scotty’s Brewhouse chain of restaurants in Indianapolis, known for their $25 (U.S.) “Big A** Brewhouse Burger” made with four quarter-pound beef patties and American cheese, offers managers an extra day off if they use a Jawbone UP to log an average of 10,000 steps per day for three months, according to Bloomberg. Staff can also earn tickets to basketball games and free food, restaurant manager Josh Thomas told the Star.

Keeping miners alive

Deadly snakes such as the inland taipan are workplace hazards for fieldworkers with Thiess Global Mining in the Australian Outback. The firm is equipping workers with wearables to monitor blood oxygenation, body temperature and activity levels in order to track snake attacks in real-time, according to Forrester Research.

Keeping freshmen fit

Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, Okla., requires all freshmen to wear a Fitbit to keep track of their activity for a grade. “The marriage of new technology with our physical fitness requirements is something that sets ORU apart,” said the Christian university’s president, William Wilson, in a news release. ORU, which forbids pre-marital sex, assures that it can’t use the data to spy on students’ bedroom habits.

Keeping passengers happy

Qantas Airways is linking its frequent flyer points program with Nib, a health insurance provider, where Qantas Assure customers can earn loyalty points for meeting fitness goals. With an app that links different wearable devices and mobile phones, users will gain points for walking and running, with plans to expand to other forms of physical activity.

Keeping workers well

Companies have been offering up wearable fitness devices to encourage health and wellness. Last year, Target gave basic activity trackers from Fitbit Inc. to its more than 300,000 employees as part of a company-wide effort to boost a healthy lifestyle. It also offered employee discounts for fruits and vegetables.

—With files from Geoffrey Vendeville

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