This week, I'm house sitting an adorable hound. I never had a four-legged pet growing up and this is the first time I've had a dog for a longer period of time. Even though I'm several decades behind most people, this first experience is living up to expectations - it can be a pain altering my schedule to feed and walk Lily, but the affection and energy she has more than makes up for it.
The health benefits of owning a pet are pretty clear. Physically, having to take her out every four hours, especially up and down my three-story walk up, keeps me moving. Emotionally, the companionship is a great outlet and can melt away stress in an instant.
I'm surprised that health insurance companies haven't taken more advantage of these relationships. There are easy ways to incorporate this information (e.g., pet ownership as a factor in setting premiums), but there could be other opportunities:
- Partnerships: Could health insurance companies partner with pet retail stores or other animal groups to promote their services within the pet community?
- Pet Insurance: The market for pet insurance is growing - I'm surprised this hasn't been pursued more aggressively especially given 1) a similar, somewhat overlapping business model and 2) these members would likely be more healthy and profitable
- Targeted Messaging: If companies were to collect information about pet ownership, there's an opportunity to create a new segment to target messaging and opportunities
No comments:
Post a Comment