Premium perks: Wearables, apps are set to transform health insurance

IRDAI has so far received 173 proposals, most of which incentivise wellness in the health insurance space through the use of apps and wearable devices

The health insurance sector could be in for a major transformation as technology-backed wellness regimes become the order of the day. Moving away from actuarial data, much of the health insurance benefits in future might be linked to real-time data from health apps and wearable devices.

Last year, the Insurance Regulatory Development Authority of India (IRDAI) invited proposals for products under the sandbox regulatory regime. Regulatory sandbox usually refers to live-testing of new products in a controlled environment. It is similar to a pilot project. The insurer is free to withdraw from the project in case it fails to succeed, and