Health IT

UnitedHealthcare piloting fitness app that pays for healthy behavior

As part of an effort to make health insurance a more tangible and consumer-oriented tool, […]

As part of an effort to make health insurance a more tangible and consumer-oriented tool, UnitedHealthcare is in the process of developing a new app that offers financial incentives for users who practice healthful behavior.

The Minneapolis-based insurer is currently piloting the iPhone app, Reward Me, in Arizona and Illinois, offering users a litany of rewards based on both usage of the app and achievements in four categories: healthy eating, relaxation, healthy activity and life style, according to Kirk Pion, vice president and Innovation Champion for UnitedHealth.

“We wanted to acknowledge what people were doing every day to stay healthy,” he said.

Rewards run the gamut, depending on the markets and which retailers partner with UnitedHealth. Pion said some examples include discounts on apparel, like Puma for instance, or deals on yoga classes, Quiznos or Jamba Juice, among others. “All targeted toward healthier options,” he said.

The app is viewed as both a means to engage users and expose more people to the Health4Me app, a pricing transparency tool that United upgraded recently to include mobile payments and wearables. Pion said Reward Me and Health4Me have been integrated, with the hope of making once-burdensome activities like payments more seamless.

The Health4Me app saw increase of 43 percent in users as a result of the integration just within the two pilot markets, according to Pion.

Importantly, he said what makes Reward Me different from other fitness apps, like MyFitnessPal for example, is that users are automatically rewarded.

“You’re getting something just for being a member. All you have to do is sign up,” he said. “It’s getting that immediate benefit.” The more a member uses Reward Me, the bigger the incentives and discounts get, he added.

The pilot will continue through this year, and UnitedHealth will add new markets through 2015. A bigger, UnitedHealthcare-wide roll-out for the app could come by early 2016, Pion said. Upon expansion, an Android app will be developed. The pilot started in 2013 in Arizona

While rewarding healthful behavior may bring with it long-term reduced insurance costs, Pion said the motivation is the make health insurance more consumer-friendly, part of a broader industry-wide shift.

“We can show people the value of insurance beyond a claim,” Pion said. “We’re trying to say even if you don’t use healthcare services, there’s a good reason for you to have insurance.”

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