Health & Wellness Engagement Impacts

It’s been two years since McKinsey wrote about personalization as the future of life insurance. Yet for many, buying and owning a policy today doesn’t feel radically different than it did 2 or even 20 years ago. While insurers, reinsurers, distributors, and policyholders can all agree that greater personalization is necessary, the challenge is how to make that happen while still providing comprehensive coverage at an affordable price. At least part of the answer lies in engaging with customers on H&W.

Due to the proliferation of health apps and wearables, consumers have more data about
their health and lifestyle than ever before – and they’re often willing to share their data if they see the value in doing so. Swiss Re’s “Global COVID-19 Consumer Survey 2022” found that globally, two thirds of consumers are open to sharing personal data or health results in return for a benefit (e.g., personalized health advice, faster application process, discounts). In advanced markets, such as North America, survey respondents were primarily attracted to H&W apps that 1) help them improve their health and 2) help them understand their current health status.

Our survey also revealed that while price is the most important factor in insurance
buying decisions, the inclusion of additional services is also a key consideration, particularly in the US market. Engaging with customers on H&W has strong potential to produce shared value for all parties involved:

• Consumers can purchase more relevant products at the right price point, experience improved health and longevity, and may qualify for meaningful financial incentives and rewards as a result.
• Distribution experiences sales growth and can tap into potentially infinite touch points with their customers as life changes.
• Insurers and reinsurers build customer relationships that go beyond a policy in a drawer and an annual bill – resulting in better mortality and persistency and maximizing the lifetime customer value.
• Society as a whole benefits whenpeople are healthier and better protected financially.

Many insurers recognize the opportunities that H&W engagement may create, but some struggle to quantify the impact and make the case for launching a H&W engagement program. Our experts believe, when structured appropriately, H&W engagement programs can help policyholders
improve their wellbeing, strengthen their loyalty, and bring long-term commercial benefits to insurers (e.g., improved mortality and persistency and sales growth). This paper focuses on the commercial
benefits of engaging with customers on H&W with the aim of helping innovative insurers:

1) Make the case that H&W engagement programs can improve mortality and persistency and have a positive ROI, and

2) Measure and maximize the impact of their H&W engagement program.