Health insurers are increasingly looking at data generated by smartwatches, fitness trackers and connected health devices as a potential tool for wellness programs, risk assessment and personalized care. These devices can continuously capture information such as heart rate, sleep, physical activity and other health-related metrics, creating a level of behavioral insight that traditional insurance records do not provide.
The model is drawing comparisons with automotive telematics, where insurers can monitor driving behavior through connected devices. But health data is considerably more personal. Researchers and regulators have warned that consumer-generated health information may fall outside some traditional HIPAA protections when it is collected by apps and wearable-device companies rather than covered healthcare entities.
That does not mean U.S. health insurers can currently take a person’s smartwatch data and simply raise an ACA Marketplace premium because they exercise less or sleep poorly. Federal Marketplace rules limit insurers to five factors when setting premiums: age, location, tobacco use, plan category and whether dependents are covered.
The bigger issue is what happens as wearable programs become more deeply integrated into insurance. Some insurers already use connected-device programs to encourage healthier behavior, while policymakers continue to debate how consumer health data should be collected, shared and protected. The FTC has also strengthened oversight of certain health apps and connected devices through its Health Breach Notification Rule.
For consumers, the emerging question is no longer simply whether a smartwatch can track their health. It is who ultimately gets access to that information, how long it is retained, what it can be used for and whether today’s voluntary wellness programs could eventually become a much broader system of continuous health monitoring.
