Discovery and John Hancock announce strategic partnership
A new approach to Life Insurance in the U.S. that rewards healthy living.
Discovery Limited (“Discovery”) and John Hancock Insurance (“John Hancock”) have entered into a strategic partnership which will see the introduction of a comprehensive healthy living program for U.S. consumers. John Hancock, a division of the global financial services group Manulife, is one of the largest life insurers in the United States.
Adrian Gore, Chief Executive of Discovery says, “Discovery and John Hancock share a commitment to improving the lives of our customers, and with more than 150 years of experience and a history of innovation, John Hancock is the perfect partner to help expand the solution that’s at the centre of Discovery’s shared-value insurance model in the US.”
Craig Bromley, President of John Hancock Financial Services comments: “We are reinventing the consumer life insurance experience and changing the way people think about this critical component of their overall financial health. We believe this offering will make life insurance relevant for new generations of consumers and reinvigorate the entire category.”
Discovery’s shared-value insurance model is based on the combination of engaging policyholders and incentivising them to manage their health, and dynamically pricing their behaviour into the cost of insurance. The model leverages insights from behavioural economics in an immediate rewards system that drives positive behaviour change over the long term. The change in behaviour results in lower insurance costs and savings that are then used to fund incentives. Customers benefit from the shared-value model through better health and financial rewards.
Recent research conducted in South Africa showed that Vitality incentives have a positive and measurable impact towards improving healthy lifestyle choices. The research also revealed that membership of the Vitality wellness programme is closely linked to the tendency to undertake a health screening, and as a result to also take preventive measures against potentially life threating non-communicable diseases.
The partnership with John Hancock strengthens Discovery’s position as the global leader in the field of incentivised wellness. Discovery has a global presence through partnerships with Ping An in China, AIA in Asia and Australia, and The Generali Group in Europe. Discovery also wholly owns VitalityLife and VitalityHealth in the UK (previously PruProtect and PruHealth respectively).
