One life insurance company is leveraging incentives to encourage customers to adopt healthier habits, aiming to improve both their well-being and the company’s financial success.
Image Credit: manusapon kasosod/Moment RF/Getty Images
Many people start their day with plans to eat well and exercise, yet often find these intentions sidelined by daily demands. Recognizing this common struggle, one insurance firm provides rewards like gift cards, prize wheels, and fitness streaks to bridge this gap and motivate healthy decisions.
John Hancock’s Innovative Vitality Program
John Hancock has introduced the Vitality program, designed to reward policyholders for engaging in various healthy behaviors. These include gym visits, buying nutritious food, sleep monitoring, and undergoing preventive health screenings.
Points accumulated through these activities can be redeemed for tangible benefits such as discounted smartwatches, Amazon or Starbucks gift cards, hotel offers, savings at retail outlets, and lower prices on fruits and vegetables.
Matt Hudack, a financial planner and program participant, finds these incentives appealing. With 5,400 points achieved so far, he appreciates the REI discounts as an outdoor enthusiast.
Similar to frequent flyer programs, Vitality enrollees progress through levels, from bronze to platinum, by consistently cultivating healthier habits. Hudack enjoys the digital prize wheel feature, which he spins after reaching specific activity milestones.
Reframing Life Insurance
Brooks Tingle, John Hancock’s CEO, has highlighted the transformative approach in the company’s perspective on life insurance. Historically focused on preparing for death, the paradigm has shifted towards enhancing living quality.
Tingle explains the financial alignment of encouraging long-lived, healthy customers. This leads to longer premium payments, benefiting both the company and its clients.
Incentivizing Health Through Gamification
Cardiologist Dr. Dariush Mozaffarian from Tufts University partnered with John Hancock to design the program’s dietary incentives. He believes the gamified structure effectively engages individuals, citing evidence supporting the impactful nature of gamification.
The element of uncertainty in rewards plays a crucial role. The notion of variable prizes, as opposed to fixed amounts, often boosts excitement and engagement.
Behavioral Impact and Early Outcomes
At a 2025 hearing, Tingle presented initial results to lawmakers. Vitality participants reportedly walk twice as many steps daily compared to typical Americans, and half reduced high blood pressure within a year.
The program also offers cheaper access to advanced screening tests, aiding early disease detection.
Despite promising trends, Dr. Samir Sinha, a geriatrician from Sinai Health System, emphasizes it’s too soon to determine if incentives will significantly enhance life longevity. He suggests the potential for ingrained healthy habits leading to a “longevity dividend.”
While car insurers have tracked driving habits for premium reductions, life insurance is now adapting this model. Vitality members can enjoy lower premiums, saving up to 25%, based on their program choice.
Fostering Positive Conversations
For Hudack, the program offers an unexpected advantage. As a financial planner, he finds life insurance discussions often veer towards gloominess due to their association with mortality.
However, the Vitality program shifts focus, presenting life insurance as an enabler of healthier living, rather than a mere mortality reminder. This uplifting angle has led to added roles in his office to manage Vitality clients.
Hudack’s weekly routine starts with the app resetting his activity counter, encouraging him to pursue goals anew.
Leave a Reply