The trend of wearable gadgets to monitor health is presently in its nascent stages. The increasing popularity of these gadgets and its high-end usability to benefit health poses some new challenges. Very soon, wearables could be a compulsion and the use of these gadgets may redefine your health insurance benefits. Before you move on to know how these gadgets can impact the insurance holders, let us know what exactly are the different health wearables.
What are Wearables?
Wearables are health monitoring gadgets that the patients can wear on their wrist or some body part. Here are the many different ways in which health monitoring devices and gadgets help:
- Chronic disease management is made possible. Individuals can actively control their existing health conditions.
- Keeping obesity in control is also made possible. Physical activity is encouraged by offering special discounts.
- The wearables make it possible to identify diabetes and blood pressure issues well in advance and take corrective action at the right time.
- The wearables also help to identify super-fit and super-healthy individuals instantly.
- Wearables can also help in monitoring health of people who are addicted to smoking or alcohol and the right measures can be taken to avert it.
Know About the Growing Trend of Wearables
In the past, health monitoring gadgets were bulky and inconvenient to use. As the technology is advancing, the wearables are also altering in look and feel. They are available today in sleek and attractive styles. The growing trend of wearables is observed in today’s health conscious world. Such gadgets are marketed during health awareness campaigns and marathon series.
These wearable devices help to monitor a healthy hear rate. These can help to detect any variation in normal health and take action on a timely basis.
New Rules About Wearables and Health Insurance
While wearable devices as a compulsion for health insurance has not yet been introduced, it could be a possibility in the near future. Insurance companies have long been considering the multitude of insurance possibilities with the help of health monitoring devices.
As the different health monitoring gadgets can help to monitor health, it will give sufficient data to health insurance providers to craft a scheme accordingly. It will also help to enhance customer engagement and keep him in control of his health situation.
Changing Office Work and Health Cultures
At present, the health of an individual employee is not a matter of concern for the company. While the company sure hold responsibility for overall health and wellbeing of the firm’s employees, an individual’s health is still not under introspection. This may not always be the case. As wearable technology is now in vogue, people may have to show their health track record before they buy health insurance.
Companies that provide health cover to their employees may now offer varying benefits to their employees based on data available from health tracking devices. The different health tracking wearables available today make it possible to maintain data on the diet, exercise and sleep habits of each individual. As these factors greatly impact individual health, people who take greater care of their health may enjoy more benefits from company health insurance policies.
There are two sides to the same coin. While this may give the companies a better way to monitor the health habits of the employees, it may make it obligatory for the employees to maintain their health regimes. It will encourage people to take their health seriously. Such wearables may prove useful to monitor addiction habits like smoking and drinking in employees and take corrective action at the right time. The best health insurance plans in India will come up with more customer friendly schemes based on the health data available from such tracking devices.
The Objections and the Risks
While the wearable gadgets are pro-health and pro fitness, there are some risks associated with such gadgets that also need to be considered. If used positively, the data can help to take the right health measures but the risks of data theft are also high. Information regarding one’s health is a private matter but if it gets into the wrong hands, it can be a huge risk. Security concerns must be tackled properly before making wearables compulsory.
Health Insurance Companies May Follow Suit as Car Insurance Firms Take the Lead
We know that you need to maintain a good driving record to maintain a car insurance. This has encouraged people to take road safety seriously and always take the right measures. There is a chance that the different health insurance companies may follow on the same footsteps. They may provide with health insurance benefits based on your health consciousness and how well you take care of your health.
Now you may ask, ‘Is that possible?’. It is quite possible if wearable technology becomes the norm. Then, before you buy health insurance, you will be asked to present the wearable gadget records for the past tenure. The modern wearable gadgets can make a note of your location through GPS, your daily exercise routine using heart rate sensor and pedometer, your diet using glucose monitoring and many other aspects of your daily health routine. Such detailed check on your daily health may provide the health insurance firms with the much-needed data to classify their customers and provide benefits accordingly.
The best health insurance plans in India with many years of industry experience will be the first to try and benefit from the advanced technologies. On a positive light, as wearables become a norm, more people will start taking their health seriously. If there is a compulsion on the number of sleep hours and exercise routine, the companies will not be able to overburden employees with erratic work hours.
Before the government considers the wearable technology as a plausible option, it needs to assess all aspects like health, security and the impact on economy. This will lead to a well-informed decision that is the need of the hour in India.