A life insurance company turns healthy habits into a game : NPR

A life insurance company uses incentives to gamify its customers’ healthy habits, improving its bottom line.

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Many people wake up with the intention of eating well and exercising. But then the day escapes them. Do you feel familiar? Now, one life insurance company is betting that gift cards, prize wheels and fitness streaks can help close that gap.

Life insurance company John Hancock’s Vitality program rewards policyholders with points for healthy behaviors such as going to the gym, buying healthy foods, tracking their sleep, and undergoing preventive screenings and exams. Points translate into tangible benefits like discounts on a new smartwatch, Amazon or Starbucks gift cards, hotel deals, savings at retail stores, and discounts on purchasing fruits and vegetables.

“I already have 5,400 points. I’m silver, almost close to gold,” said John Hancock financial planner and policyholder Matt Hudack, scrolling through his app. As an outdoor enthusiast, he loves the REI discount. “It’s really a great incentive.”

Just as airlines offer their frequent flyers more rewards as they travel more, customers enrolled in the Vitality program progress through tiers, from bronze to platinum, as they adopt and maintain healthier habits. One of Hudack’s favorite features is a digital prize wheel that he can spin after reaching activity levels. “Pirouettes are fun,” he said.

Transforming “death insurance” into a living benefit

Brooks Tingle, CEO of John Hancock, says the program reflects a deliberate shift in thinking about its core business.

“We call it the life insurance business,” he says. But the reality is that for hundreds of years the focus has been on death. “It was about, hey, you’re going to die, you should be prepared,” Tingle says. “What we’ve done is literally turn the tide. It’s about living and living better.”

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The company’s logic is simple. Healthier customers live longer, pay premiums longer and are more profitable. “The longer we are able to collect and invest the premiums, the more money we make,” Tingle said. “You want to live a long and healthy life? It’s good for us too.”

He says there is a strong alignment between the company’s financial results and what is beneficial to its customers.

A new way to “gamify” good health

Cardiologist Dr. Dariush Mozaffarian, director of the Food is Medicine Institute at Tufts University, collaborated with John Hancock on the program’s food incentives. He says the game-like structure can help keep people engaged.

“What’s exciting about gamification is that it’s not just about the dollar amount, it’s also about making the activity fun and exciting and offering prizes,” says Mozaffarian. “More and more evidence shows that it works quite well.”

The psychology of uncertainty also matters. “If you just say you’re going to give someone $10, they’ll probably shrug their shoulders,” he said. “But if you tell them there’s a game and maybe they’ll win $10, maybe they’ll win a $20 card, it gets really exciting and people respond well to that.”

Mozaffarian advised John Hancock on how to structure its food-related incentives, including discounts on fruits and vegetables. He cites research showing that financial incentives can effectively promote healthier eating habits at a time when diet-related illnesses are prevalent.

Behavior change is complex

In a statement to the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Health 2025, during a hearing on modernizing American health care, Tingle outlined some early results. Vitality members take twice as many steps per day as the average American, he told lawmakers. And about half of members with high blood pressure brought their levels back to a healthy level within a year.

John Hancock also partners with companies that offer advanced screening tests, providing members with discounted access to early detection blood tests and MRI scans to screen for hundreds of conditions.

It’s still early to determine whether reward programs and financial incentives will translate into longer lives, says Dr. Samir Sinha, a geriatrician and aging expert at Sinai Health System and the University Health Network in Toronto.

“There is not enough evidence at this time to say that these types of programs will actually have the desired effect” of helping people live longer and healthier lives, Sinha said. “However, if this can actually ingrain certain healthy behaviors that become lifelong habits, it could actually create a longevity dividend,” he added.

Sinha notes that the concept is not entirely new. Auto insurers have long offered lower rates to drivers who track their habits to show they are driving safely. “It’s now built into life insurance,” he said.

Customers who enroll in the Vitalité program can benefit from lower premiums, up to 25%, depending on the version of the program they choose. And that can be another financial incentive.

A different conversation

For Hudack, the program had an unexpected professional benefit. As a financial planner, he says life insurance can be a dark subject to discuss with clients because it brings to mind mortality. Now he has something more uplifting to offer. “They like the idea that their life insurance is now a tool for healthier living,” he says.

It’s no longer just a reminder that they will die one day. It now has a staff member in its office dedicated to servicing Vitality customers.

On Monday morning, Hudack checks his app and sees his activity counter reset to zero, but that doesn’t discourage him. Instead, it serves as a boost.

“I have to go,” he said. “It starts again this morning.”