 "health insurance")
Most exciting developments in healthcare today come from technology, and it’s putting consumers in the driver’s seat. Wearables and the Internet of Things (IoT) are transforming preventive health as well as disease management at a fast pace. CES 2019, the world’s biggest consumer technology show, offered a glimpse of what’s ahead — hybrid smartwatches that take an electrocardiogram (ECG) reading, the first wearable blood pressure monitor and a smart belt that keeps tabs on your health, including tracking overeating.
Closer home, health insurance in India is poised for a breakthrough with the wearables revolution at our doorstep. Given their growing application in healthcare, an Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDAI) panel evaluated the use of wearable and portable devices in the insurance industry. Irdai is also developing a “regulatory sandbox” to enable testing of products in a controlled environment so that the sector could keep pace with the fast-evolving financial technology (fintech). For health insurers, wearable, connected devices will open up an opportunity to reimagine offerings and services. It will also make health insurance more relevant to the next generation of customers.
Tailor-made products are now possible: Wearables today collect a range of data that go far beyond tracking steps. There are devices that can keep a tab on heart rate, stress levels and blood pressure. Worn or carried on the go, wearables provide a continuous stream of health data, which can be useful across the health insurance spectrum.
With wearables, health insurers will be able to pivot a data-driven approach – from assessing the risk to creating tailor-made products for each customer. Insights and analytics into these data points will help companies identify customer segments better, expand relationships with existing customers and create entirely new product lines.
While underwriting the risk at the onboarding stage, wearables will allow insurers to monitor a range of metrics over a continuous period and in real time. This data will help insurers arrive at individual health risks and health scores, leading to personalised plans that are priced just right for each customer.
Many consumers are already using wearables to track their workouts. Max Bupa’s Health Insurance Pulse Report 2018, a six city-survey conducted last year, showed that fitness wearables are popular not just among younger users, but across the 28-50 age group, which leans towards proactive health. Consumers are already monitoring their fitness with wearables and smartphone apps. Insurers have the opportunity to forge an ecosystem that enables consumers to track and capture a range of meaningful, actionable insights. This could lead to newer policy variants that encourage good health.
Premiums based on fitness, not age: In countries like the US, UK and South Africa, the “interactive policies” that track health data through wearables and smartphones are becoming increasingly popular. Traditional insurers are changing course to sell this new kind of policy where customers are incentivised to stay active and healthy. They are rewarded for meeting fitness targets through discounts on premiums. This shift is panning out across India too. GOQii’s IndiFit Report 2019 found that 70 per cent of 700,000 consumers surveyed across the country were willing to share health data with insurance companies to get a discount on premiums.
The approach empowers and motivates consumers to take greater control of their health. We have seen that those with early signs of diabetes, for instance, are changing their lifestyle and increasing physical activity to improve their risk profile. Traditionally, individual premiums rise with age. The way things are developing, the industry could be moving to a new future of health insurance where age profiles will matter less than what your body says about you, with your unique, individual health data deciding the premium you pay.
Consumers have started focussing on preventive healthcare: Expand the idea of proactive, preventive healthcare to larger communities, or even the entire country. A World Health Organisation (WHO) report estimates non-communicable diseases – including heart disorders, cancer and diabetes – cause 61 per cent of all deaths in India every year. The statistics are daunting. Lifestyle diseases plague one in four Indians. Deaths from heart disease in India rose by 34 per cent in 26 years, even as this figure fell significantly in the US during the same period. India is known as the diabetes capital of the world. High-pressure jobs, changing lifestyles and food habits, coupled with a lack of physical activity have made us unhealthier than ever before.
Non-communicable diseases will cost the country $6.2 trillion by 2030. The economic implications and potential loss of productivity, make the shift to prevention imperative. Wearable technology incorporated in smartphone apps could prove to be a game-changer for health insurance, given India’s high smartphone penetration. It could give millions of Indians control over their health, at a price they will be able to afford.
It’s still early days as the industry, and regulatory authorities understand and address challenges around privacy, security and transparency, that an unprecedented amount of health data will bring. However, with spiralling healthcare costs and the pressure to control the rise of non-communicable diseases, we need to reinvent our approach quickly. The 2019 Interim Union Budget called out “healthy India” as a dimension of the broader vision for the next decade.
Adapting wearable technology, insurers can usher in a new era where a sustainable approach to prevention can expand the penetration of health insurance. It has the potential to reset the approach to health for the future generation.
The writer is MD & CEO, Max Bupa Health Insurance
The writer is MD & CEO, Max Bupa Health Insurance
