Wearables and wellness programs in life insurance

A life insurance wellness program lets you earn rewards, and sometimes lower premiums, for healthy activity that you track with a wearable device, an app or by getting checkups. The best-known U.S. example is John Hancock Vitality. These programs are voluntary add-ons, not a replacement for underwriting, and joining means sharing personal activity and health data, so it pays to know what you are trading for the savings.

How these programs work

Wellness programs fall into three types:

1. Behavior rewards after you buy. You earn points for steps, workouts, healthy food purchases or screenings, and the insurer gives discounts, gift cards or partner perks. John Hancock Vitality works this way.
2. Upfront underwriting credit. Using wearable or other personal data to help decide eligibility or price is a different matter, and it is the area regulators watch most closely; see AI and data in life insurance underwriting.
3. Condition-specific programs. Coaching for people with a chronic condition such as diabetes; see life insurance with type 1 or type 2 diabetes.

The core premise is that healthier people live longer and cost insurers less, so rewarding healthy behavior can benefit both sides. Whether a particular program changes mortality is not something an insurer's marketing can settle; outcome claims below are the company's own.

John Hancock Vitality: what the company says

John Hancock began offering policies with Vitality in spring 2015. On September 19, 2018 it announced that all new policies would include the program. At the time the basic tier carried no extra cost and the upgraded Vitality PLUS tier cost $2 a month, with savings of up to 15% on annual premiums and a choice of an Apple Watch for $25 plus tax or a free Fitbit, according to the 2018 press release.

In a May 2025 anniversary release, John Hancock said:

• eligible members can save up to 25% on their life insurance premium, depending on the Vitality status they reach;
• nearly 90% of eligible members earned premium savings;
• a share of members reported better health measures, such as bringing high blood pressure readings into range. These are self-reported figures from the company, not an independent study.

Available programs, riders and prices change, and not every policy qualifies. Check the current terms on John Hancock's site or in your policy documents, and see the John Hancock profile for the company's products.

Questions about privacy

The tradeoff is data. Before joining any program, ask:

1. What is collected? Steps, heart rate, workouts, food purchases, screening results and device identifiers can all be involved.
2. Who gets it? Ask whether the insurer, a program administrator, device makers and analytics vendors receive it. Read the program's privacy notice separately from the policy.
3. Can it hurt me? Programs commonly say activity data is used to reward participation, not to raise rates or cancel coverage. Ask where that is written in the policy or program terms, and whether the insurer can change the rules later.
4. Is the data protected by health privacy law? Health data you give a consumer app or insurer-run program is often not covered by the federal HIPAA health privacy rule the way a doctor's records are. The Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act also does not cover life, long-term care or disability insurance, according to the National Human Genome Research Institute.
5. Can I leave, and what happens to my data? Ask how to opt out and whether data is deleted.
6. Does it feed other decisions? Ask whether information could reach databases insurers use, such as the MIB.

What regulators say

Using non-traditional data in insurance decisions is a regulatory focus. New York's Department of Financial Services issued Insurance Circular Letter No. 7 on July 11, 2024, on artificial intelligence and external consumer data in underwriting and pricing. It requires insurers to govern these systems and to assess whether the data could produce unfair discrimination, for example by acting as a proxy for a protected class. Colorado has a life insurance rule on external data (Regulation 10-1-1, effective November 14, 2023), and the NAIC adopted a Model Bulletin on AI Systems on December 4, 2023. Rules differ by state; see New York for state specifics.

Is it worth it? A checklist

• Is the savings realistic for you? Compare the potential premium discount, which depends on how engaged you stay, with the effort and cost of any device.
• Will you keep it up? Rewards that depend on continued activity can fade if you stop.
• Are you comfortable with the data sharing described above?
• Is the underlying policy competitive without the discount? Compare the policy's guaranteed and non-guaranteed elements as well as the program; see how life insurance premiums are calculated.
• Do you have a health condition that makes goals harder to meet? Some programs adapt; ask.

Programs suit people who already track fitness, like the structure and are comfortable sharing data. They suit people less if privacy is a priority or if they want the simplest possible policy.

Key takeaways

• Wellness programs such as John Hancock Vitality offer rewards and, by the company's account, premium savings of up to 25% for engagement after you buy; the 2018 launch offered up to 15%.
• Outcome and savings statistics in this area come from insurers themselves; verify the current terms in writing.
• The main cost is data: ask what is collected, who sees it, how it can be used and how to leave.
• Regulators in New York, Colorado and through the NAIC are setting expectations for how insurers use external data and AI.
• Choose the policy first on its own merits, then treat the program as an optional extra.