Services Economy with Fexingo: Healthcare, Finance, and the Modern Service Sector

Episode 79 of Services Economy explores how health insurers are using gym attendance data to adjust premiums and incentivize healthy behavior. Lucas and Luna discuss a 2026 pilot by a major insurer that offers premium discounts based on verified workout frequency via wearable integration. They examine the privacy trade-offs, the accuracy of gym data as a health proxy, and the broader trend of insu...

Episode 78 of the Services Economy with Fexingo explores a controversial frontier in health insurance underwriting: using rent payment history to predict health risk and set premiums. Lucas and Luna break down the specific data points insurers are pulling from tenant screening reports—late payments, eviction filings, even utility shut-offs—and how they correlate with claims costs. They examine a p...

Episode 77 of Services Economy with Fexingo dives into a quiet but powerful data stream: pharmacy loyalty cards. Lucas and Luna explore how insurers like CVS and UnitedHealth are analyzing prescription purchase histories, coupon usage, and refill timing to predict medication adherence, adjust premiums, and even flag health risks before a diagnosis. They walk through a case where a woman's loyalty...

Episode 76 of Services Economy with Fexingo dives into a surprising new data source health insurers are experimenting with: smart speakers. Lucas and Luna explore how voice assistant interactions — from asking about symptoms to ordering over-the-counter meds — are being analyzed to predict health risks and adjust premiums. They discuss a 2025 study from the University of Pennsylvania that found vo...

Episode 75 of Services Economy dives into a new frontier in health insurance data collection: social media. Lucas and Luna explore how insurers are analyzing public posts, likes, and even emoji patterns to predict health risks and adjust premiums. They examine a study showing that a single Instagram post about junk food correlates with a 12% higher likelihood of obesity-related claims, and discuss...

Episode 74 explores how health insurers are analyzing credit card data from gas station and convenience store transactions to predict health risks. Lucas and Luna discuss a major insurer's pilot program using fuel purchase frequency and snack-buying patterns to adjust premiums and offer wellness incentives. They examine the privacy concerns, the accuracy of such predictions, and what this means fo...

Episode 73 of Services Economy with Fexingo dives into the emerging practice of health insurers purchasing driving behavior data from auto insurers and telematics companies. Lucas and Luna examine a specific case from early 2026: a major health plan in Texas that offers premium discounts to members who consent to share their car's speed, braking, and mileage data. They explore how insurers build r...

Episode 72 of Services Economy with Fexingo explores the rapid adoption of continuous glucose monitors by health insurers. Lucas and Luna examine how insurers like UnitedHealthcare and Cigna are using real-time glucose data from devices such as Dexcom G7 and Abbott Freestyle Libre to adjust premiums, incentivize healthy behavior, and reduce claims costs. They discuss a 2025 study showing a 12% red...

Episode 71 of Services Economy with Fexingo examines how health insurers are integrating smart inhaler data into asthma management programs. Lucas and Luna discuss the partnership between UnitedHealthcare and Propeller Health, which uses sensor-equipped inhalers to track medication usage and environmental triggers. They explore how real-time data helps reduce emergency room visits by 50% for some...

In this episode of Services Economy with Fexingo, Lucas and Luna explore how health insurers are deploying AI models to predict which members are likely to visit the emergency room within the next 30 days. They break down a specific case: one major insurer using machine learning on claims data, pharmacy data, and social determinants to flag high-risk patients. The hosts discuss the accuracy of the...

In episode 69, Lucas and Luna dive into the murky world of pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) and how health insurers use them to negotiate drug prices behind the scenes. They focus on the case of Humana and its PBM subsidiary, CenterWell Pharmacy, and how vertical integration allows insurers to capture rebates while patients still face high out-of-pocket costs. The hosts break down the 'spread pric...

In this episode of Services Economy with Fexingo, Lucas and Luna dive into the controversial role of pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) in the healthcare system. They focus on the specific case of Express Scripts, owned by Cigna, and how PBMs negotiate drug prices with manufacturers and set formularies that determine patient access. Lucas explains the PBM business model: they extract rebates from dr...

Episode 67 of Services Economy with Fexingo dives into how health insurers are increasingly using genetic testing data to predict future medical costs and set premiums. Lucas explains that companies like Geisinger Health System and UnitedHealth Group are incorporating polygenic risk scores — which assess an individual's genetic propensity for conditions like heart disease or diabetes — into their...

Episode 66 of Services Economy with Fexingo: Healthcare, Finance, and the Modern Service Sector explores how health insurers are incorporating data from smart rings — like Oura and Samsung Galaxy Ring — to adjust premiums and incentivize healthy behavior. Lucas and Luna break down the specific metrics insurers track, the discounts offered (up to 15% on premiums), and the privacy and equity concern...

Episode 65 of Services Economy digs into a controversial new data stream: connected car telemetry. Lucas and Luna explore how health insurers like UnitedHealthcare and Humana are partnering with automakers and telematics firms to pull driving behavior data — mileage, speed, hard braking, even time of day you drive. They walk through how this data feeds risk models for premium adjustments, what reg...

Health insurers are increasingly incorporating genetic testing data into their underwriting and wellness programs. In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the case of a major insurer that launched a voluntary DNA testing pilot for policyholders, offering lower premiums in exchange for sharing genetic risk markers. They discuss the regulatory gray area under the Genetic Information Nondiscriminatio...

Episode 63 of Services Economy with Fexingo explores a surprising new frontier in healthcare data: smart home sensors. Lucas and Luna dive into how insurers are partnering with smart home device makers to track activity patterns, sleep quality, and fall risks through motion sensors, smart lights, and connected thermostats. They discuss a pilot program by a major insurer offering discounted premium...

In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore how health insurers are leveraging grocery delivery data to predict health risks and adjust premiums. They discuss a specific case: Humana's partnership with Instacart, which analyzes shopping baskets for patterns like high sugar intake or low produce purchases. The hosts examine how this data is combined with claims histories to create risk scores, raising...

Episode 61 of Services Economy explores a surprising new trend: health insurers subsidizing streaming services and gym memberships as part of wellness programs. Lucas and Luna unpack the economics behind this shift, focusing on UnitedHealthcare's partnership with Peloton and how insurers calculate that a Netflix subscription might reduce stress-related claims. They discuss the data on whether thes...

Episode 60 of Services Economy with Fexingo: Lucas and Luna dig into the fast-growing practice of health insurers incorporating hyperlocal air quality data into their underwriting and premium models. Starting with a concrete example from a major insurer that recently began adjusting premiums by ZIP code based on particulate matter readings from low-cost sensors, they explore how satellite data, EP...

Episode 59 of Services Economy with Fexingo examines how health insurers are now using social determinants of health—things like housing stability, food access, and transportation—to predict medical costs and adjust premiums. Lucas and Luna break down the data sources insurers are mining, from census tract averages to credit scores and grocery purchases, and discuss the ethical tightrope between b...

Episode 58 of Services Economy with Fexingo: Lucas and Luna explore how health insurers are now analyzing your digital shopping receipts—from grocery stores, pharmacies, and even fast-food chains—to predict health risks and adjust premiums. They dive into a 2025 study from the University of Chicago that found a 34% increase in chronic illness diagnosis accuracy when insurance algorithms incorporat...

Episode 57 of Services Economy with Fexingo explores the vertical integration wave in healthcare: health insurers are acquiring primary care practices at an accelerating pace. Lucas and Luna break down the numbers — over 200 independent practices bought by insurers in 2025 alone — and examine what this means for patients, doctors, and costs. They discuss the case of UnitedHealth Group's Optum divi...

Health insurers are spending millions on non-medical services like rideshare rides, meal deliveries, and grocery delivery. In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the economics behind this strategy: how insurers like Humana and UnitedHealth are betting that addressing social determinants of health reduces costly claims. They break down a 2025 study showing that every dollar spent on these 'non-med...

Health insurers in the US and UK are buying supermarket loyalty card data to build health risk profiles. Episode 55 reveals how AI analyzes your grocery purchases—from high-sugar cereals to vitamin D milk—to predict chronic illness and adjust premiums. Lucas and Luna dig into Optum's partnership with Ahold Delhaize, the privacy loophole in HIPAA and GDPR, and why buying two liters of soda a week m...