In this Monday, Feb. 29, 2016, photo, Brett Broviak, a manager of respiratory and sleep services at IU Health North Hospital, shows off his Fitbit fitness tracker for the camera on the hospital’s campus in Carmel, Ind. Companies and insurers looking to reduce health-care costs are turning to incentives and may soon start rewarding you for wearing a fitness device that tracks your steps, heart rate and more. (AP Photo/AJ Mast)NEW YORK – You know you need to exercise more, but there’s always next week, or the week after? To entice you to stop procrastinating, your company or insurer might soon reward you for wearing a fitness device to track your steps, heart rate and more.
For instance, in one program expected to be announced Wednesday, some workers can buy a $350 Apple Watch for just $25 by meeting exercise goals for two years. Vitality, a provider of disease-prevention and lifestyle programs, is initially bringing the offer to U.S. employees at three companies, along with John Hancock life-insurance customers. It has been testing the program in South Africa since December.
Other programs let you can redeem points from fitness activities for gift cards and other rewards. Submit to biometric screenings and nutrition classes, and in some cases you can earn cash in the form of insurance discounts.
“We all live busy lives, but the truth is, if doctors could write one prescription for the world, it would be activity,” says Jeff Williams, Apple’s chief operating officer. “The beauty of this program is members are going to get healthier.”
Adrian Gore, CEO and founder of Vitality parent company Discovery Group, says that for many people, the benefits from exercise might not be apparent for a few decades. Reward programs make the payoff more immediate.