Hacker News Reader

What lifestyle changes would an insurer pay for--at least without very intrusive lifestyle monitoring? (Which will increasingly be possible to do whether it's done or not.) There are often discounts for gym memberships and the like. And annual physicals are typically paid for.

View on HN

A friend of mine can log exercise and turn it into free money in his HSA. I don't know whether they validate it against an activity tracker or not, but this is already happening.

I'm genuinely not sure. Paying for gym memberships, FitBits, and things to get people exercising could be one option. Or maybe insurers could use extra incentives to encourage people to get flu shots or regular checkups?

One thing ACA did which at least is plausibly useful (though whether it'll move any statistics remains to be seen) is to include an annual physical plus all CDC-recommended vaccines with $0 billed-to-patient cost. So even if you otherwise have a high-deductible plan, you don't pay a copay or deductible for those services. This isn't quite an active incentive, but it's an attempt to remove the price disincentive, with the hope that'll result in higher vaccination rates (the flu vaccine is included).

Reply on news.ycombinator.com