SCARBOROUGH, Maine — As the nation’s health care costs continue to rise, Hannaford Bros.’ customers may get discounts on their insurance premiums under a new initiative in the works. The retailer plans to link its new myHannaford online shopping tool to health insurance companies’ customer reward initiatives, SN has learned.

Under a pilot program slated to kick off in the second quarter, several yet-to-be-named insurance companies will reward customers who buy healthy foods at Hannaford by giving them free gift cards for products that earn Guiding Stars, according to Julie Greene, Hannaford’s healthy living director. Discounts on monthly insurance premiums are also being discussed.

As proof that they’re buying healthy foods, customers would print out their shopping history via myHannaford and send it to their insurance company. Available via a link on the Hannaford.com website, myHannaford provides side-by-side comparisons of foods’ nutritional value, along with their Guiding Stars rating and price.

The insurance plan comes at a time when Safeway has said it plans to reward employees with premium reductions this year if their FoodFlex reports show that they’re buying healthy foods. FoodFlex is a personalized online food and nutrition tool that delivers a nutritional analysis of food purchases made with loyalty cards.

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