Wearables Offered As Reward To Fit Clients
By Christine Kern, contributing writer
Using the wearables, users get paid to be fit.
In an effort to get its members moving, New York-based health insurance startup Oscar Health has partnered with Misfit Wearables in a promotion which provides each Oscar member with a free Misfit Flash tracker. Addition, members have an opportunity to earn up to $20 a month in Amazon.com credits by meeting specific activity goals, according to Forbes Magazine.
The startup has already raised more than $150 million in venture capital, and hopes to keep growing. While Oscar launched in mid-July, it had to wait until the open enrollment period to begin taking on new members. Fortune reports the company began its enrollment period this year with 17,000 members and “grew to way more than that” in just the first week, according to CEO Mario Schlosser. That represents approximately $85 million in annual revenue from the health insurance premiums, but also equals “a few hundred million dollars in actual healthcare spend,” Schlosser said.
Oscar is hoping to get its members healthier by encouraging more activity among the workforce, and thus bring down employee healthcare costs as a result.
A post on the Oscar blog announced the new promotion, stating, “We’re excited to introduce a new fitness perk for Oscar members starting January 2015! On top of our $400 annual gym reimbursement, members can now get a free Misfit Flash – a wearable device that measures your activity, syncs with the Oscar app, and helps you stay in shape. You’ll even be able to earn up to $240 each year just for staying active and meeting daily goals. That’s right, we take care of you when you’re healthy too.”
Through individual Misfit devices, Oscar members “will be able to track their own health and transmit this information seamlessly to their medical timelines on Oscar’s mobile app,” the company said. It’s available on IOS and Android platforms. The Misfit Flash retails for $50 to $60.
When asked whether or not the introduction of this new program was akin to turning health insurance into the gains/losses game of care insurance, where each binge or unhealthy excess could damage your overall premium scores, Schlosser was quick to tell Forbes, “We will never link this to anything punitive, and it will never enter our review process. After learning the insurance industry inside and out, I’m very comfortable with insurance companies having this data. WE are so heavily regulated on what we do with this information – especially compared to other health apps on your phone.”