AIA Australia celebrates five-year anniversary of world-leading health and wellbeing program, AIA Vitality

Melbourne - AIA Australia, one of the country’s largest life insurers, has celebrated the five-year anniversary of its world-leading health and wellbeing program, AIA Vitality, on the eve of its launch in New Zealand.

Since its Australian launch in 2014, AIA Vitality has helped more than 160,000 Australians better understand and improve their health, using behavioural economics to educate, remove barriers, and reward and incentivise positive change to support Australians and motivate engagement with the program.

Utilising a global, science-backed program that is the first of its kind in Australia, AIA Vitality has provided AIA Australia with a unique ability to engage with customers on an ongoing basis, in order to provide greater value, improved health outcomes and gain rich insights into health and wellbeing.

The program helps customers understand the current state of their health, removes barriers to better health, and keeps them motivated to improve their health through exercise, nutrition and health screenings, by offering incentives such as charity donations, shopping rewards, savings on gym memberships and discounts on life and health insurance premiums.

AIA Vitality members have had 25,000 health checks and completed 250,000 health and wellbeing self assessments, including assessing their mental health. They have taken nearly 90 billion steps since the program launched – the equivalent of 30 return trips to the moon – and visited partner gyms more than one million times. Almost $26 million in total rewards have been earned by Australian members.

“Since introducing AIA Vitality, we have been able to transform the role that we play in our customers’ lives and in society, from simply being a payer of claims, to a partner in their ongoing health and wellbeing. We want to help our nations achieve the great dream of healthier, longer, better lives in Australia and New Zealand” said Damien Mu, chief executive of AIA Australia and New Zealand.

Geoff, an AIA Vitality member, was diagnosed with an adenocarcinoma in his lung in 2017, which was followed by a full hip replacement. Geoff said “It has made me focus on my wellness after a couple of health shocks. I have achieved Platinum status even though in August of last year I was told the cancer had metastasised. AIA Vitality and the achievement of the next level has given me something to focus on while undergoing immunotherapy every two weeks, chemo every three weeks and some fairly lengthy periods of radiation every day.”

“AIA Vitality is a prime example of the shared value approach we bring to our business; what is best for our customers – living healthier, longer, better lives – is what is best for us, our partners and society. We take great pride in the fact that AIA Vitality has had a profound impact on people’s physical and mental wellbeing, and it underscores our vision to champion Australia and New Zealand as the healthiest and most protected nations in the world,” Mr Mu said.

AIA Vitality member Jenni said “It has pushed me to be more proactive with health checkups. When I joined AIA, I went to the doctors for all the annual checks for the first time in about 10 years.”

AIA Vitality also provides members with more affordable insurance cover. Those who purchase eligible life insurance policies with AIA Vitality attached receive an initial policy discount of 12.5% which can increase by 1% per year up to a maximum discount of 20% for members who achieve Gold or Platinum status (which is based on their engagement with the program). MyOwn health insurance customers receive a 5% policy discount on joining, which they retain if they reach and maintain Silver status, and members with Silver status will also receive refunds for hospital admission excesses and dental gap payments.

AIA Vitality has evolved each year, in order to keep members engaged and to provide improved services. VAIA Vitality 5.0 is expected to roll out towards the end of this year.

More information about AIA Vitality can be found on the AIA Vitality website.