Health insurance has long been associated with hospitalisation cover, but in recent years, wellness add-ons have become a quiet game-changer.
These features go beyond financial protection during emergencies and step into the space of day-to-day health management.
The question is: how relevant are these benefits for elderly policyholders compared to younger ones?
Wellness has steadily moved from the margins of health insurance to slowly becoming an important part of the main offering. Among younger people, it is often about fitness, yoga, or preventive check-ups, as insurers try to tap into lifestyle habits that are already gaining ground. But the story shifts once you look at senior citizens, where wellness benefits carry a very different weight.
For instance, Younger generations (millennials and Gen Z in particular) have embraced wellness almost as part of their lifestyle. ICICI Lombard’s wellness study earlier this year showed that nearly three out of four millennials practise yoga regularly. Many also take up walking, fitness challenges, and app-based tracking, and they expect their insurer to support these habits.
Add-ons like step counters, nutrition advice, or discounts on gyms and yoga classes fit neatly into this approach, more often supported by their corporate health plans. For them, wellness could be largely about motivation, prevention, staying consistent, and ‘gaining points’.
For the elderly, the conversation turns more serious. “The wellness add-ons are highly relevant for the elderly, due to the distinct and complex healthcare needs that come with aging,” says Dr. Vinay Golankondoju, AVP, Health Underwriting at Digit Insurance.
Unlike the younger individuals who use such tools for general wellbeing, seniors may rely on them for managing chronic illnesses, mobility issues, and even mental health.
For instance, something as simple as a Doctor on Call service can save an elderly person the strain of repeated clinic visits. Home nursing or physiotherapy sessions can help in long-term recovery or day-to-day care.
Add-ons like medical report aggregation and vital tracking go further, offering seniors a way to keep diabetes or hypertension under control before things escalate into hospitalisation.
Insurers also recognise the importance of logistics such as ambulance support, pick-up and drop services, because mobility itself is a challenge for many in this age group.
Many seniors battle from emotional struggles that come with ageing like loneliness and cognitive decline. Wellness aid like mental health sessions or social engagement activities can help them to overcome these issues.
Some insurers, including Digit, now bundle screenings and discounted diagnostic packages for conditions like thyroid or diabetes, and even offer nutrition and weight management support as wellness support.
The idea of preventive care is to catch problems early, when they are manageable, rather than wait for emergencies.
When you place the two groups side by side, the contrast is clear. Where younger policyholders treat wellness add-ons as extensions of their lifestyle, a way to blend their fitness routines with insurance. For seniors, these same add-ons could act as lifelines for preventive care and mental health support, helping them manage complex health needs in their own homes, with dignity and independence.
The common thread is that wellness is no longer a side note in insurance. For the young, it is motivation while for the old, it is support. Either way, it has become part of how people now expect their health cover to work, not just in crisis, but in everyday living.
