Last month, it was reported that Apple was in talks with health insurers about its HealthKit tools that officially launched to the public with iOS 8 earlier this month. The report suggested Apple may have been looking to partner with insurers on programs to reward users for maintaining healthy lifestyles and reaching fitness goals as tracked by HealthKit.
One of the insurers mentioned in the report was Humana, which today officially announced integration between its HumanaVitality rewards program and HealthKit. Under the program, members can receive wellness points redeemable for a variety of rewards including fitness equipment, electronics, and movie tickets.
Recent updates to the HumanaVitality app have added HealthKit support to pull in data from wearable devices and Apple's own fitness-oriented tracking features, making it easy for users to document their progress.
The HumanaVitality App, designed to make it easy and simple for consumers to engage with their health, enables users to create and measure specific, personal wellness goals (get active, eat better, lose weight or reduce stress). HumanaVitality rewards members for meeting these goals and for other healthy behaviors, from getting a biometrics screening to taking 10,000 physician-recommended steps a day.
HumanaVitality members who use the HumanaVitality App can upload fitness data from their favorite wearables into Apple Health and earn Vitality Points for hitting their health and fitness milestones.
HumanaVitality [Direct Link] is a free download from the App Store.
Top Rated Comments
(View all)Am I letting my insurance company track my health/lifestyle via my phone. Who thought this was a good idea? Insurance executives?
Even then I am not hitting 10k steps a day. I think that is a really poor measurement.
Maybe this is due to my long strides? I really don't want to pay more for health insurance because I take long strides.
I see you are having an elevated heart rate... Perhaps you should leave the titty bar?
That company should be shutdown and its CEO and VPs put in jail for life for all the misery they caused. If your company offers their plan, lobby them to ditch them and get something else. Don't take my word for it. Google it.
Seriously, the problem with using simplistic metrics such as steps is that they do not take into account your whole activity, your health and your habits...
For instance, if you commute by bike and do 30km per day, you will probably not have your 10k steps a day. Yet, I would say you're going to be pretty fit nevertheless... Same if you're into swimming, which can't even be measured by either the iPhone or the Apple Watch.
Also, the steps is an oversimplification for keeping people active, it's not a golden rule. For instance, if you spend 10 hours a day sitting at a desk without ever moving, 10k steps a day are not going to repair the damage to your body, standing just does destroy your body that much. But if you are careful to stand up and move a bit every 20 minutes, you might actually be in much better shape even without doing your 10k steps a day...