Health Insurers Eye Wearable Data for Personalized Premiums
Health insurers are exploring the use of biometric data from wearables to personalize premiums, a practice currently unregulated in Germany. Meanwhile, consumers show interest in using fitness trackers for lower car insurance quotes, and some employers already offer incentives for healthy behavior.
The European Data Act harmonizes rules for using data from connected devices, including wearables, but does not specifically address personalized car insurance pricing. No German or EU authority is publicly developing such regulations at present. In the US, federal law allows data from wearables to influence car insurance prices under predefined guidelines, with a 30% discount limit. Insurers could use real-time data from wearables to set prices more accurately, similar to usage-based auto insurance, and incentivize healthy behavior. Apple has partnered with Humana to share Apple HealthKit data with the Humana Vitality app for financial incentives. Some employers already offer rewards to active and healthy employees using wearable data. A recent US survey found that nearly 60% of adults would be more likely to use a fitness-tracker if it meant lower car insurance premiums. Policymakers could promote widespread access to wearables to ensure all Americans can benefit from reduced car insurance costs. Insurers and public sector agencies could perform macro-level analysis and wellness monitoring using anonymized wearable data.
While the use of biometric data from wearables for personalized car insurance pricing is not yet regulated in Germany, it is being explored in the US. Consumers show interest in using fitness trackers for lower car insurance quotes, and some employers already offer incentives. Policymakers should consider promoting access to wearables to benefit all Americans with reduced car insurance costs.
