AIA Australia says it will introduce unique discounts on premiums and products as part of an incentive to policyholders to engage in healthy behaviours.

The insurer says the Healthier Life Reward will be offered to new customers who fall within the eligible terms of the program. Eligibility requirements ask prospective policyholders to be non-smokers, hold a body mass index between 18-26, engage with the AIA Vitality wellbeing program, and have no medical loadings on their policy.

AIA says the program will provide customers with a 2.5% discount on their lump sum premiums for their policy period, should they remain an AIA Vitality member, and discounts of up to 17% on selected bundled products.

“We know that there are five key factors that people can focus on to reduce their risk of chronic disease – these are smoking, drinking alcohol, nutrition, physical activity and our interaction with the environment,” AIA CEO and MD Damien Mu said.

“The Healthier Life Reward is one of the many ways that we want to incentivise Australians to make the best choices for their health.”

AIA also announced a further update to its Priority Protection portfolio that will improve policyholder access to medical definition pass-back upgrades for those with a past or future progressive condition, allowing them to make a claim if they meet an updated definition.

Mr Mu says the insurer will reach out to advisers with clients who have had their claims declined in the past to review if they may be eligible under the new changes.

“Traditionally, when we passback upgrades of our medical definitions, the new definitions only apply to health events that arise after the upgrade has been put in place,” Mr Mu said

“However, for people who have a condition that gets progressively worse over time, we didn’t want them to be disadvantaged if at some stage their condition meets the terms of the upgraded definition.”