Wearable technology is becoming increasingly popular across the globe. Among its many uses, one that you probably haven’t heard too much about is the tracking of personal data to monitor health.

These wearable gadgets can be used to track your health and well-being on a daily basis, and the resulting data is particularly useful to insurance companies. It helps them obtain accurate information about the health of each individual.

According to a report from Timetric Insurance Intelligence Center (IIC), the evolution of wearable technology in healthcare is sure to revolutionize the health insurance industry. As a matter of fact, some insurance companies have initiated health insurance plans where you pay lower premiums based on the data about your physical activity.

So What Exactly is Wearable Technology?

Wearables are systems with micro-sensors that are embedded in products like watches, wrist bands, and spectacles. Some examples of these include Jawbone, Fitbit, and Google Glass.

These devices monitor and compile data on metrics like your heart rate, sleep patterns, exercise intensity, and calorie burn. They store the biometric data and provide an output, enabling you to observe your daily performance.

Another interesting feature of a few health wearable devices is that they’re able to determine whether you’re at risk of ailments like diabetes or cardiovascular problems. This helps you deal with them early on, and improves your chances of beating these diseases.

 

So, it’s no surprise that the popularity of wearables is increasing with every passing day. Mordor Intelligence released a report which says that the global wearable medical device market will exceed $7.8 billion by 2020.

How Does This Help Health Insurance Companies?

When you approach a firm for health insurance, they take into consideration certain factors like age, geographical location, and family history to determine the state of your health.

The information collected is quite generic in nature, as there is no concrete data on how much you exercise or your daily calorie intake. This means that you’ll be handed a regular policy that doesn’t factor in your biomedical data.

As a result of this, a healthy and active 40-year-old pays the same premium as another 40-year-old who leads an unhealthy and sedentary lifestyle.

This is not ideal.

How Policy Customization Helps

Some firms offer good health insurance policies like the Complete Health Insurance Plan that allows you to customize your insurance as per your requirement and budget. However, such flexibility is often not available when applying for health insurance in India.

You will most likely be handed a standardized policy with a fixed premium. That’s where wearables can help out.

The data on your wearable device won’t be generalized or averaged out. It’s specific to you and your body. A look at this information can help insurance companies determine how healthy and active you are. This makes risk assessment highly accurate.

 

 

A study found that members who are more physically engaged have fewer hospital admissions, shorter hospital stays, and lower medical costs compared to those who aren’t.

So, if you are healthy and active, this translates into financial benefit! As a healthy client, you will be offered a good health insurance plan with wide coverage and a low premium.

According to Accenture’s 2015 technology vision report, 63% of the respondents believe that in the next two years, wearables will be adopted broadly by the insurance industry.

Going forward, we will see a trend where health care insurance policies will be tailored according to the fitness and lifestyle of each individual.

In fact, depending on your daily activity and calorie intake, as monitored by your wearable device, your premium rate might fluctuate every 24 hours. The more active you are, the lower the rate, and vice versa.

This will have a net positive effect on people’s lives by pushing them to exercise, thereby not only benefitting insurance firms, but ensuring that people stay healthy and fit.