What Are the Common Wellness Benefits of Health Insurance?

Posted on: Apr 6, 2023 | | Written by: HDFC ERGO Team

What Are the Common Wellness Benefits of Health Insurance?

Health insurance plans are designed to provide financial protection for unexpected medical expenses. But have you ever wondered if your health insurance plan could do more than just cover you when you get sick or injured? Well, taking inspiration from the ‘prevention is better than cure’ adage, many individual health insurance plans and other healthcare policies offer wellness benefits that can help individuals maintain or improve their overall health and cover hospitalisation expenses, surgeries, and medications. These benefits range from preventative care services to fitness programs and mental health resources. Let’s explore some common wellness benefits health insurance plans offer and why you should opt for them.

What is a health insurance wellness program?

A health insurance wellness program is designed to encourage and promote healthy lifestyle choices among individuals covered by a healthcare policy. These programs are typically offered by health insurance companies and include a range of services and resources that support healthy behaviours, such as exercise, healthy eating, and stress management. These programs aim to prevent illness by providing policyholders with the tools and resources to stay fit. Participating in these programs can often improve their health outcomes and reduce their risk of developing chronic conditions.

How does a health insurance wellness program work?

Health insurance wellness programs help individuals manage chronic conditions or make healthy lifestyle changes. The wellness program benefits can include preventative care services like annual check-ups, immunisations, cancer screenings, health coaching, and counselling services. These plans also offer memberships in gyms, sports clubs, yoga centres, and fitness programs or give vouchers for health supplements.

Health insurance wellness programs work as reward points, which are given to the insured for participating in physical activities and workouts like walking, running, jogging, etc., to stay fit and healthy. The reward points can be redeemed to avail of discounts and other benefits. Here are the steps:

1. First, you need to sync the fitness tracking device with your insurance provider’s app.

2. You need to complete the challenges mentioned in the app and earn points/coins.

3. You can redeem these reward points to avail yourself of certain benefits.

Benefits of opting for Health Insurance Wellness Programs

Opting for a health insurance wellness program can provide several benefits for policyholders. Here are some of the key wellness benefits of health insurance:

1. Improved Health Outcomes:

Policyholders can proactively maintain their health and prevent illnesses by participating in wellness programs. Regular check-ups, screenings, and preventative care services can help identify health issues early on when they are often in the early stage and are easier to cure.

2. Reduced Healthcare Costs:

By promoting healthy behaviours and preventative care, wellness programs can help reduce healthcare costs for both policyholders and insurance providers. Preventative care services can help identify health issues before they become severe, which can help avoid costly hospitalisations.

3. Access to Valuable Resources:

Wellness programs often provide access to valuable resources like health coaches, counselling services, fitness programs, and nutrition counselling. These resources can help individuals make positive lifestyle changes, leading to improved health outcomes. The policyholder also gets exciting concessions during policy renewal.

4. Discounts and Incentives:

Many wellness programs offer incentives to encourage policyholders to participate in healthy activities, such as discounted gym memberships, free health screenings, or rewards for meeting certain health goals.

5. Overall Well-Being:

Participating in wellness programs can improve overall well-being by reducing stress, increasing physical activity, and promoting healthy behaviours. This can lead to an improved quality of life and enhanced longevity.

What’s covered in health insurance wellness programs?

Some of the activities covered in health insurance wellness programs are:

• Fitness activities like exercise and learning about a nutrient-rich diet chart

• Yoga

• Weight loss programs

• Smoking cessation programs

• Vaccination drives

• Preventative care services

IRDAI Guidelines for Health Insurance Wellness Programs

The guidelines by IRDAI for health insurance wellness programs are:

1. The objective of the wellness programs offered by insurance providers should be only to promote healthy living.

2. Only those policyholders who meet the eligibility criteria related to wellness should be given the benefits.

3. The wellness benefits in health insurance can come inbuilt with the base plan or as an add-on.

4. If the insurer engages different service providers to provide the wellness programs, the policyholders must be given a choice to select the service provider to avail of the wellness programs.

5. The list of service providers offering wellness programs by insurers must be clearly written on the insurance company’s website.

6. In the case of a family floater plan, the insurance company must clearly state if all the insured members covered by the policy can avail of the wellness benefits.

7. The insurer must clearly state the rules regarding the accumulation of rewards, validity, redemption, and carry forward of wellness benefits if not used in the current policy year.

8. The insurer must mention how to redeem the benefits.

9. The insurer must keep all the information provided by the insured confidential and use it only for wellness programs.

10. Insurers must notify the policyholders about the rewards earned at least once a year.

Why should one opt for a medical insurance wellness program?

Health insurance wellness programs will motivate people to work towards a healthy lifestyle with fitness activities like exercise and healthy eating to improve their overall health. When you participate in these activities and meet the wellness challenges, you not only attain good health but also earn reward points. The points can be utilised to save on the policy renewal premium or redeemed for vouchers and memberships in gyms, sports clubs, fitness and yoga centres.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Do all health insurance plans have wellness programs?

Most new-age health insurance plans have wellness programs. You need to check with your insurer or read the terms and conditions of the policy to know the details. While some insurance providers include it in the base healthcare plan, others may offer it as an add-on.

2. What are some wellness programs offered by insurers?

Some wellness benefits in health insurance offered are memberships in sports clubs, gyms, yoga centres, fitness centres, rewards for leading an active lifestyle, and more. You can check with your insurer to know the programs offered to you.

3. Do I have to pay extra to enroll in wellness programs?

Most wellness programs come with a base health insurance plan, and you don’t have to pay extra. If offered as an add-on, there may be an additional premium for it. You should check with the insurance provider while buying the policy.

Conclusion

Now that you are aware of health insurance wellness programs and how wellness benefits in health insurance work, you can select best health insurance plans which come with these benefits. This way, you will not only be motivated to remain healthy and fit but also be rewarded with benefits. With health insurance plans, you are also financially secure.

Disclaimer: The above information is for illustrative purpose only. For more details, please refer to policy wordings and prospectus before concluding the sales.

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