It’s not about your health, stupid

Ignilife, a French wellness prevention startup serving 3 million customers, has raised €1.4 million from the Malakoff Mederic group. Back home, UnitedHealthcare recently launched a wellness program called UnitedHealthcare Motion that links financial incentives with the use of wearable devices. Bottom Line: wellness programs tied to rewards are gaining traction. See below:

But not everyone is amused. Barbara Duck, a technology consultant known among peers as the Medical Quack, says financial incentives are not worth it reasoning that although insurers cannot sell or disclose personal health data, “they can put a score on your head and sell that”. Not to mention a tiny product-market-fit problem since the ones who tend to use these programs the most and stick with them are not the target population for the chronic problems.