John Hancock Adds Whole-Body MRI Discounts to Wellness Program

John Hancock has added a discount on the Prenuvo whole-body MRI scan to its Vitality wellness incentive program.

Life insurance insureds ages 18 and older outside New York state who participate in the Vitality program and complete a health review can get the scans for $500 less than the full $2,499 price.

Prenuvo says its scans take less than an hour and can provide an early look at conditions such as aneurysms or cysts.

What it means: Some clients may soon have extra information about conditions that could affect their life expectancy.

The scans: Prenuvo is a venture-capital-backed firm with clinics in Chicago, Dallas, New York, Los Angeles and a few other markets.

Most health insurers do not yet cover its scans.

Skeptics have suggested that the scans could lead to unnecessary care and may not be useful for people who have an average risk of developing conditions such as cancer.

John Hancock’s strategy: John Hancock, a Boston-based subsidiary of Manulife, is famous for using the Vitality program, a program developed by an outside vendor, to use a variety of games and award offers, such as Apple Watch award offers, to persuade members to eat healthy foods, exercise and get the appropriation health screenings.

John Hancock has already pushed wellness program boundaries by offering Vitality members access to Grail’s Galleri cancer screening blood test.

John Hancock is applying the approach it has used for the Galleri test to the Prenuvo test: It will get aggregated results, but the results will not affect individual customers’ coverage or premiums.

John Hancock says it’s the first life insurer to offer insureds a whole-body MRI discount.

John Hancock is not planning to report the value of the Prenuvo test to the IRS as income, but insureds should ask their tax advisors about the tax implications, the company says.

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