Why health and wellbeing programs are important

And while financial protection is often viewed as an important consideration for clients, health and wellbeing programs should play an equally important role in their future considerations.
 

Where an insurance policy is there for when the unexpected occurs, a program such as AIA Vitality is there to help promote better health and focus on disease prevention. It also helps people increase control over their own health, by engaging and empowering individuals and communities to choose healthy behaviours and make changes that reduce their risks of developing chronic diseases and other morbidities.

In 2021, we released an updated report call 5590+, which provided health insights into Australians. It provided five modifiable behaviours that lead to five non-communicable diseases that cause 90% of deaths in Australia.

The five non-communicable diseases include:
 

By taking a look at our claims data, we see a correlation of the first four to our top claimable events. Dive a little deeper, and we know that diabetes increases the risk of heart disease. The good news is that we can all play a role in reducing these risks by having healthy levels of physical activity, by ceasing to smoke and reducing or quitting alcohol consumption while also thinking about our dietary choices. These are all modifiable behaviours.

Since AIA Vitality’s launch in Australia, members have:

 

And so much more.

 

Healthy choices like the above can all lead to healthier people. Through preventative measures as a society, we can reduce the burden on the health system and in the end we all benefit. From an insurance perspective, healthier clients can lead to a reduced impact on claims which can lead to less increases on premiums annually ensuring more people are protected for when they need it most.
 

And while the unfortunate truth is that disease will still be a factor, we can place more focus on those real unexpected moments and not the potential story of “he got cancer, but it’s no surprise, he smoked a pack a day since his 20s”.

Health and wellbeing programs often incentivise clients with discounts on policies amongst other rewards, and some may think that these programs are just discount mechanisms. But the truth is, these discounts are reward for actively making healthier choices. If a clients discounts erode over time, it could be a good time to start discussions about health and the impact on a client’s policy.
 

If they actively engage with the program, then you won’t have the challenge of discussing erosion of discounts.
 

To maintain their current level of discounts for Priority Protection policies when coupled with an AIA Vitality membership, all clients need to do is achieve Gold Status (20,000 AIA Vitality points). While it may sound like a lot, the following can get your clients over 10,000 AIA Vitality points in a short period of time.
 

By staying active, your client could earn up to 500 points a week*, and in the space of 20 weeks they could obtain another 10,000 points. And if your clients achieve Platinum Status, their premium discount can increase annually by 1%**.

If you would like to know more about how AIA Vitality can help your clients, reach out to your Client Development Manager or Sales team.