Unitedhealthcare is the most recent insurer that has turned to fitness trackers.
Fitness tracker and wearable devices aren’t really a new concept but it is normal for insurance companies to not respond to advancement in technology quickly. Although times have changed now and major companies including John Hancock and Aetna have offered large discounts on wearables like Apple Watch for the consumers to monitor their activity with these wearables. Unitedhealthcare, one of the major insurance companies, is trying to combine wearables from major companies like Samsung and Garmin to bring its own wearable device that could monitor and then reward users for achieving the goals of walking daily.
This brand new initiative known as UnitedHealthcare Motion lets you track your steps and earn as much as $4 each day in either HRA or HSA credits with devices like Samsung Gear Fit2 Pro or The Gear Sport or Garmin’s Vivosmart 3 for reaching company’s standard fitness goals.
These goals include taking 500 steps under seven minutes for six times in a day with a difference of an hour at least between each drill, finishing 3,000 steps under 30 minutes and walking a total of at least 10,000 steps each day. UnitedHealthcare will make these trackers available with large discounts or may be even free for plan particpants on a special page on its website. Qualcomm keeps the data secured while it is being shared via the Motion app with insurers and the combining devices owned by people.
These programs not only help the consumers in terms of money and also in terms of health but also it helps the insurance companies to save a huge amount of money over a long period of time. James Mault from Qualcomm stated that walking has been effective in helping to improve the well-being and also cutting short the medical expenses and the way UnitedHealthcare has helped people in controlling their health is visible to everyone.