Marketing in Fitness Post 5 - United Healthcare Launches Fitness Trackers to Offer Discounts and Promote Being Active

Hello Jtrain Nation! I hope all of you have been well, dominating life and being the best version of yourself could possibly be. It's another week, and so here's another "Marketing in Fitness" post for you fresh off the press!

I was looking through potential marketing campaigns that I could use for this week when I stumbled upon something very interesting. Apparently,  United Healthcare is teaming up with Qualcomm and is developing a device that tracks the number of steps you take in a day and, in return, will offer discounts on your insurance deductible for meeting benchmarks in three different categories.

The program being launched is called "United Healthcare Motion" and gives individuals who enroll in the program fitness trackers that record the frequency, intensity, and tenacity of steps taken while walking. Frequency is defined as walking six times a day for a minimum of 300 steps, intensity is defined as taking 3,000 steps in 30 minutes, and tenacity is defined as taking at least 10,000 steps within an entire day. Qualcomm has developed the connectivity platform for which to capture an individual's data via United Healthcare's device and analyze whether or not they are meeting specified measures for which to receive financial incentives on their deductibles. Currently, the program and wearable device are being offered to companies with 101 to 300 employees and their spouses in 13 different states who have a fully insured health plan.

On average, a deductible costs the consumer around $1,318 for single coverage according to a 2015 employer health benefits survey conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation. Individuals enrolled in this program can receive up to $4 a day in savings, or $1,460 in total health reimbursement credit.

This marketing campaign in my opinion takes advantage of the popularity of wearable devices in fitness. Consumers have shown that they are welcoming to the thought of wearing devices that track their fitness. I think United Healthcare is doing something innovative and smart in creating incentives to stay fit while also promoting their own technology and discounts to potentially grab new consumers. It will be interesting to see if other health companies will jump on this bandwagon and develop their own wearable devices for consumers to use. Perhaps health insurance companies can find even more ways to further incorporate technology and healthcare while offering health plan incentives to market their services and show consumers that they really do care about their health and not just charging them money for expensive health plans.

For more information on the United Healthcare Motion program, please visit: http://www.uhc.com/news-room/2016-news-release-archive/wearable-devices-wellness-program

-Jtrain

Sources: 
http://www.mmm-online.com/corporate/unitedhealthcare-and-qualcomm-partner-on-wearable-fitness-program/article/480696/
http://www.uhc.com/news-room/2016-news-release-archive/wearable-devices-wellness-program

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------*Have a question about natural bodybuilding / fitness / nutrition / stress?
Need some advice? Email me at jtrainfitness@gmail.com and I will answer
it on this blog! Be sure to enter your email to receive alerts for 
when the next blog post has come out, and be sure to tell your 
friends about this blog! Follow me on Instagram @jtrain1224 and tell 
your friends to do the same!*
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------