John Hancock Offers Apple Watch Series 5 to Vitality Life Insurance Customers for $25

[MacRumors]

Life insurance provider John Hancock has announced that it is expanding its Apple Watch program so that new and existing members of its Vitality program can receive a 40mm Apple Watch Series 5 for an initial payment of just $25 plus tax.

The cost of the Apple Watch is split up into 24 monthly payments, which can be paid off by walking, running, biking, swimming, or completing various other exercises.

Vitality members must earn at least 500 fitness-related Vitality Points per month over two years to avoid owing any of the instalments. Additional fees apply for customers who choose a cellular model or other more expensive models.

By connecting the Vitality Today app to Apple's Health app and confirming data sharing, customers can earn Vitality Points for Light, Standard, and Advanced Workouts towards the monthly goal.

Customers can also share steps measured by their iPhone or Apple Watch, as well as active calories from the Apple Watch.

The Vitality program is available with select John Hancock life insurance policies in the United States. The free Apple Watch Series 5 offer will be available starting this fall everywhere except New York and Puerto Rico.

John Hancock, owned by Manulife Financial, first started offering Apple Watches to a limited number of members in 2016, before opening the program to all Vitality members the following year.

In a recent survey of John Hancock Vitality members with Apple Watch, 84 percent stated they are motivated to exercise by their Apple Watch and 90 percent wear an Apple Watch seven days a week.

In addition, a RAND Europe study of over 400,000 people concluded that those who participated in Vitality's Global Apple Watch programs averaged a 34 percent sustained increase in physical activity compared to participants without an Apple Watch.

Article Link: John Hancock Offers Apple Watch Series 5 to Vitality Life Insurance Customers for $25

 

[GuruZac]

That’s cool and if it’s keeps people motivated to improve their health, even better.

 

[acgmph]

Too bad term life insurance is such a scam.

 

[Howyalikdemapls]

Pretty brilliant. Either people stay healthier and the insurance company keeps getting paid and only has to pay for a watch (and not a huge insurance payout), or people don’t meet the mark and it’s as if the insurance company didn’t buy a watch at all, but still gets good press.

 

[M.PaulCezanne]

Think carefully before sharing health data with a company that profits from that data.

 

[travis64]

Good idea

 

[2010mini]

Too bad term life insurance is such a scam.

Only if you outlive it and can’t change it to something permanent.

 

[Caseynd]

Too bad term life insurance is such a scam.

It's great for people who don't want to overpay for life insurance. Whole life policies are terrible investment vehicles. If you want to read why, there are many articles out there, but this one does a good job of covering the important parts- https://momanddadmoney.com/why-whole-life-insurance-is-a-bad-investment/

 

[Scottsoapbox]

Buy it with exercise!
Good luck with that. If you aren't motivated enough to buy it yourself, a few hundred dollars won't get you off your butt.

 

[cardfan]

Think carefully before sharing health data with a company that profits from that data.

Yep that’s a bit insane.

 

[GreenPixel]

Too bad term life insurance is such a scam.

Whole Life is the scam, not term.

 

[Khedron]

This is truly more disturbing than anything Facebook has ever done.

Congratulations Tim.

 

[bbednarz]

This is truly more disturbing than anything Facebook has ever done.

Congratulations Tim.

What are you going on about now?
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Buy it with exercise!
Good luck with that. If you aren't motivated enough to buy it yourself, a few hundred dollars won't get you off your butt.

For someone that already works out and meets their goals it’s basically a free watch. I don’t see how this could be spun into a negative.

 

[mattm591]

Think carefully before sharing health data with a company that profits from that data.

The amount of data they request access to is quite limited, and no more than they need to calculate your earned points for your other rewards.

They take number of steps, heart rate and workouts. You can also provide mindful minutes if you want additional points for those activities.

 

[furbzv1]

"With the John Hancock Vitality Apple Watch program, policyholders can choose the Series 5 (40mm) or Series 3 (38mm), pay a $25 initial fee (plus tax), and get started. They can also customize their watch with features like cellular or a larger face size for a one-time upgrade fee. "

Anyone that is part of this or that went through with it- what is the upgrade fee?

 

[realtuner]

What are you going on about now?
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For someone that already works out and meets their goals it’s basically a free watch. I don’t see how this could be spun into a negative.

Just wait......

The creativity and logical dissonance of the naysayers never ceases to impress.

 

[Khedron]

The amount of data they request access to is quite limited

That's always how it starts.

Fast forward to your insurance claim being rejected because one day your heart rate showed an irregularity and you didn't obtain the mandatory doctor's report to account for it so it goes down as attempted insurance fraud.

 

[mattm591]

That's always how it starts.

Fast forward to your insurance claim being rejected because one day your heart rate showed an irregularity and you didn't obtain the mandatory doctor's report to account for it so it goes down as attempted insurance fraud.

Except they only get what Apple gives them, and the Heart Rate metric is limited to an occasional BPM value. Data like ECGs which show potential irregularities are not available to Vitality.

 

[Khedron]

Except they only get what Apple gives them, and the Heart Rate metric is limited to an occasional BPM value. Data like ECGs which show potential irregularities are not available to Vitality.

That's because Apple only measures the heart rate occasionally. One day they'll catch up to other trackers like Samsung and Fitbit and record your heart rate all the time. Then Vitality will want that too.

This is a standard wedge tactic. Offer a nice shiny gift in return for a little information, then it won't seem so bad in the future when they change the policy to "give us all your information or else we jack up your premiums".

IMO you shouldn't give anyone but your doctor health information. If Tim really cared about privacy and human rights that's what he'd be saying too.

 

[mattm591]

That's because Apple only measures the heart rate occasionally. One day they'll catch up to other trackers like Samsung and Fitbit and record your heart rate all the time. Then Vitality will want that too.

This is a standard wedge tactic. Offer a nice shiny gift in return for a little information, then it won't seem so bad in the future when they change the policy to "give us all your information or else we jack up your premiums".

IMO you shouldn't give anyone but your doctor health information. If Tim really cared about privacy and human rights that's what he'd be saying too.

Or it's a way for them to encourage positive behaviours in their customers to reduce the likelihood of them needing to claim, and rewards them with benefits for maintaining a healthy lifestyle.

 

[cardfan]

That's always how it starts.

Fast forward to your insurance claim being rejected because one day your heart rate showed an irregularity and you didn't obtain the mandatory doctor's report to account for it so it goes down as attempted insurance fraud.

Yep. My car insurance wants to send me a gadget that monitors my car. Well give ya a discount. Heck no. The worse thing you can do is give insurance companies more info than what is required.

There’s no upside there. Plenty of downside.

Now they want you to wear a gadget that monitors you? Thanks but no thanks.

 

[Expos of 1969]

Or it's a way for them to encourage positive behaviours in their customers to reduce the likelihood of them needing to claim, and rewards them with benefits for maintaining a healthy lifestyle.

No disrespect but don't be so naive.

 

[SqB]

IMO you shouldn't give anyone but your doctor health information. If Tim really cared about privacy and human rights that's what he'd be saying too.

Sorry but unless you are paying cash for your doctor visits and going to some mom and pop clinic that is still on paper, your life insurance company already has access to your health information. You sign away all your rights to that information when you sign up for health and life insurance. Your health information is readily shared between healthcare providers and insurance companies behind the scenes using authorizations you’ve already signed.

It’s way to late to be paranoid about all of this. It’s been happening for years.

Go get yourself a free watch and enjoy the extra motivation to be active.

 

[Khedron]

Sorry but unless you are paying cash for your doctor visits and going to some mom and pop clinic that is still on paper, your life insurance company already has access to your health information. You sign away all your rights to that information when you sign up for health and life insurance. Your health information is readily shared between healthcare providers and insurance companies behind the scenes using authorizations you’ve already signed.

It’s way to late to be paranoid about all of this. It’s been happening for years.

Go get yourself a free watch and enjoy the extra motivation to be active.

How come the same argument doesn't apply to social media? You've already lost to Facebook and Google so just give up?

It's not even free, you still pay for it in instalments.

 

[Expos of 1969]

Sorry but unless you are paying cash for your doctor visits and going to some mom and pop clinic that is still on paper, your life insurance company already has access to your health information. You sign away all your rights to that information when you sign up for health and life insurance. Your health information is readily shared between healthcare providers and insurance companies behind the scenes using authorizations you’ve already signed.

It’s way to late to be paranoid about all of this. It’s been happening for years.

Go get yourself a free watch and enjoy the extra motivation to be active.

It's a shame that the US medical / insurance system operates that way. But as bad as it is already, giving the insurance company even more info is foolish. It could end up costing people far more than they save on getting a "free" watch.