Wellness solutions: Evolving insurance for a healthier future
This case study highlights how the growing interest in health and wellness is influencing life and health insurance, as insurers increasingly partner with health‑tech providers to support and encourage policyholder wellbeing.
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Background
Traditional insurance models reward healthy individuals with an insurance policy at standard premium rates. Individuals with unhealthy lifestyle habits and poor self-care practices are given policies with substandard terms due to their increased risk of claiming. This reactive approach can be challenged by a modern, proactive approach: preventing illness, detecting risks early, reducing severity of conditions that are already present and intervening to protect policyholders.
Description of solution
In the market, behaviour change programmes are often described as either reward based or support based. In practice, however, the models that deliver the strongest and most sustained health improvements almost invariably combine both elements. Vitality is a well-known example of this blended approach, integrating incentives with personalised guidance, behavioural science, and access to health improving infrastructure.
Extrinsic rewards alone are generally insufficient; they must be supported by deeper engagement mechanisms and behavioural pathways to create durable change.
Reward-based components remain an important driver of participation. Incentives such as discounts, cashbacks and partner network benefits help to create early momentum and make healthy choices immediately tangible. Yet the real actuarial value emerges when such incentives are paired with support structures that personalise the member journey, guide decision making, and lower the friction associated with healthier behaviour.
Recent studies confirm the demand for programmes and solutions that provide value in the policy lifetime, not just protection from an event.
2 World Life Insurance Report 2026. Available from: https://www.capgemini.com/insights/research-library/world-life-insurance-report/, accessed on 19 January 2026.
As a global partner to insurers implementing health and wellness solutions. we observe that combining incentives with support can potentially lead to improved selection, better persistency, and meaningful reductions in morbidity and mortality over time. These programmes work because they move beyond transactional rewards, embedding behavioural science, personalised pathways, and accessible infrastructure into the insurance experience.
Expected benefits
Overall, wellness-linked insurance solutions can have three distinct positive outcomes. Based on our experience in several markets globally, these outcomes and their influencing factors are:
- Upfront positive selection: Driven by targeted, robust marketing initiatives aimed at attracting a healthier cohort. Selection gains have been shown to wear off with time.
- Lapse improvements: Require the wellness solution to continue to engage policyholders over time, i.e., the content of wellness application and rewards must continue to be valued and incentivise policyholders.
- Mortality and morbidity improvements: These are specific to markets and products offered. However, these are not easy to quantify, nor immediate given that the impact of lifestyle choices develop over extended time periods.
In addition, intangible business outcomes such as increased customer loyalty and brand value are likely.
“To me, health and wellness hinge on two pillars: awareness and action.
We aim to facilitate access to information, education and diagnostics to create awareness, then incentivise actions to steer people towards better health.”
Implementation considerations
For a health and wellness solution to be successful, among other considerations, it is essential that education is provided to the individuals using the wellness solution. Insurers must provide clear, personalised information that help the individual to not only understand their health status, but their health risks too. It is also essential that users are given clear, actionable guidance and support that motivates them to take action to improve their health.
Solutions can be complex and often require collaboration with multiple providers, such as technology vendors, healthcare services, and fitness companies. Providing a seamless, user-friendly experience that brings all these elements together can be challenging.
Cost is another consideration: insurers must invest upfront without immediate or easily quantifiable returns, since health benefits and risk reductions may take years to materialise.
Data privacy and security is another critical area, since health data is sensitive and requires robust measures to protect policyholders’ information.
Finally, it is difficult to motivate policyholders from diverse demographic groups to become aware of their health risks, take action and sustain it, so this requires personalised and accessible solutions.
How Hannover Re can support you
At Hannover Re, we help our insurance clients to promote healthy lifestyles. Hannover Re has helped pioneer solutions through our various global partnerships.
Hannover Re can support insurers to co-create health and wellness solutions through:
- Sharing global expertise: Drawing on experience from multiple markets to design programmes that improve health outcomes and customer engagement.
- Collaborative design: Working closely with clients to tailor solutions to local needs, regulatory requirements, and cultural preferences.
- Behavioural science insights: Applying proven principles to enhance engagement and sustain healthy behaviours over time.
- Vendor selection: Assisting with the selection of suitable digital wellness platforms and integrating them with underwriting and policy administration systems.
- Data and analytics: Leveraging advanced analytics to assess risk, monitor engagement, and demonstrate the clinical and financial impact of wellness programmes.
- Operational support: Providing guidance on implementation, including device management, and insights on data governance and privacy compliance.
- Continuous improvement: Sharing best practices and insights from global programmes to help refine and evolve solutions over time.
To explore health and wellness solutions or other proactive strategies to support policyholder wellbeing, please get in touch with your local Hannover Re contact.
Disclaimer:
The information presented in this case study, as well as in any other descriptions of projects or cooperations, is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice, regulatory guidance, medical advice, or any form of professional advisory service. To avoid any wording that could be interpreted as implying medical effectiveness, this document must not be understood as containing, asserting, or suggesting any medical efficacy claims. Nothing in this document shall be construed as a legally binding offer to enter into any contract or agreement of any kind. All results, performance indicators, and outcome descriptions reflect the specific conditions and parameters of the referenced project(s) or product launch(es). They are not guarantees, promises, or assurances of comparable or future performance in any other context. No warranty is given – whether express or implied – particularly that comparable or similar results can or will be achieved elsewhere. Any potential success of comparable initiatives critically depends on the lawful and compliant ability to contact policyholders, including the validity of any required consent under the applicable legal framework. All third‑party entities mentioned in this document, including insurtech companies, are independent businesses and operate separately and autonomously from Hannover Re. Their services, solutions, or technologies are neither endorsed nor guaranteed by Hannover Re and are subject to their own terms and conditions, unless explicitly stated otherwise. References to third‑party trademarks or brands are made solely for descriptive purposes and remain the property of their respective owners. No affiliation, sponsorship, approval, or endorsement by those owners is implied. Statements in this document regarding benefits, compliance requirements, risks, risk assessments, or business cases are based on our subjective experience, judgment, or interpretation. They do not replace - and must not be relied upon as a substitute for - independent assessment, verification, or due‑diligence activities by customers or other stakeholders. In particular, all aspects relating to data protection requirements (including but not limited to GDPR considerations) and AI‑related regulatory obligations must be independently assessed, verified, and evaluated by interested parties in light of their own legal and operational frameworks. The use of the terms such as “partner” or “partnered” without further qualification solely indicates that we cooperated on specific activities or exchanges with third parties; it does not imply a legal partnership, joint venture, affiliation, or any form of shared corporate structure. Each party acts independently and on its own behalf. Hannover Re and/or affiliated companies of the Hannover Re Group assume no liability for the accuracy, completeness, or future applicability of the information provided in this document.
