Source: China Business Journal
China Economic Daily reporter Chen Jingjing, Beijing
"Covered for outpatient visits and hospitalizations. Claims start from just $0, with a minimum payout of $1. Buy two policies at 9.5 off; purchase two plans and get a $30,000 accidental death benefit free." In some insurance live streams, financial products are being marketed like major consumer sales events.
But do truly barrier-free insurance products actually exist?
The "Measures for the Online Marketing of Financial Products," jointly issued by eight departments (hereinafter referred to as the "Measures"), came into effect on 9/30. The Measures stipulate that online marketing content must align with financial product contracts and shall not contain material omissions, deliberate concealment, or misleading information. Marketing materials are prohibited from using inducive terms such as "low risk," "low threshold," "instant settlement," "high returns," "low interest rates," or "no cost."
A recent investigation by China Business Journal found that after the implementation of the "Measures," controversial marketing tactics such as "1 yuan compensation, 100% payout," "full reimbursement for any amount spent," "bulk purchase discounts," and "free welfare health checkups worth over 1,000 yuan upon enrollment" continue to appear across multiple live-streaming rooms.
Discounts and gift-with-purchase incentives can encourage consumers to over-insure in pursuit of lower per-unit premiums.
Over several days of monitoring live streams, reporters found that "premium discounts" and "extra benefits" remain common marketing tactics used by insurers and their partnered streaming channels, with promotional offers constantly changing.
In a live stream for a product under a health insurance company, a tiered discount table is displayed in the corner of the screen: Buy 2 policies for 9.5% off; buy 3 policies for 9% off; buy 4 policies for 8.5% off. The discount tiers increase as the number of policies grows, similar to promotional deals on e-commerce sites. The host repeatedly reminds viewers, "Buy one more policy to save an additional 5%."
Some insurance companies have also changed their approach in live-streaming sessions: instead of offering discounts based on the number of policies, they charge per person with a group-buy model. "The more you buy, the more you save: 2 people enrolled reduces premiums by 5%, 4 people reduces it by 15%, and 5 people reduces it by 20%." A single purchase is at full price, but once you bring in 4 more people, your premium drops to 8 off immediately.
Regarding the above phenomenon, a product expert from a property and casualty insurance company stated in an interview with reporters that insurance premiums are subject to regulatory limits. Generally, only single-family policies receive modest preferential rates; they are not determined arbitrarily by streamers. "Discounts are not marketing gimmicks but reflect the product's inherent rules (e.g., age-based premium adjustments). As insurance products, insurers must file all premium rates with the regulatory authorities."
"Since most customers don't understand insurance, streamers rely on plain terms like 'discounts' to lower the learning curve. This is a key challenge in live-streaming insurance sales: to make it easier for consumers to grasp, complex rate structures are repackaged as approachable 'deals,'" said an industry expert.
However, another compliance officer at a life insurance company told reporters that from the consumer perspective, tiered premium discounts can encourage buyers to purchase policies blindly in pursuit of lower unit prices, overlooking their actual coverage needs and straying from the core purpose of insurance products as risk mitigation tools.
While discounts focus on pricing, gifting and benefits maximize the promotional atmosphere in live streams.
In our insurance agency's product live stream, the host announces: Purchase two policies and receive a complimentary 50K family accident insurance policy. For your second purchase, you'll also get two health check-up cards worth over $1,000 added as a bonus.
Live streams from different insurance companies are gradually expanding their gift lists—accident insurance, health check-up cards, medical consultation vouchers, teeth-cleaning packages, and advance payment for medical bills. Buy a single policy and get a suite of "benefits" as a bonus.
In fact, this online promotional tactic is nothing new. Previously, offline insurance agents were repeatedly flagged by regulators for offering benefits outside the insurance contract—such as free rice, cooking oil, health checkup vouchers, and nursing care cards. Today's approach simply swaps the livestream backdrop: instead of rice and oil, it now offers various medical consultation cards, health screening vouchers, and accidental insurance policies.
Gao Chengyuan, Deputy Secretary-General of the Guangdong Social Policy Research Association, told reporters that there is still room for discussion on value-added services decoupled from insurance purchase. However, once these services are bundled with sold policies or exceed their value threshold, the nature changes. "Supplementary benefits such as short-term accident insurance and health check-up cards are often not clearly separated from the coverage responsibilities of the main policy. Consumers may mistakenly consider these supplementary benefits as part of the main policy, only to discover later during claims processing that there are numerous undisclosed restrictions on the scope of use and validity periods."
A product expert from the property and casualty insurer told reporters: "The insurance company establishes unified rules for complimentary insurance and value-added services. The accidental insurance offered in live streams is a standalone product with no direct connection to the policy itself."
Controversy over vague marketing slogans
While it may appear to lower the threshold for purchasing insurance, it actually creates potential disputes during claims due to information asymmetry.
Please note that in some live streams, the coverage details mentioned by hosts when promoting certain products may differ from the terms and conditions or product brochures of the insurance policies.
In multiple live streams, anchors repeatedly claimed "0 yuan minimum claim, 1 yuan reimbursement" and broadly promoted "covers major illnesses, minor illnesses, and accidents" or "any illness is covered with 100% payout," without specifying eligible conditions, payout ratios, hospital networks, covered medications, or exclusions.
Reporters reviewing the product manual and terms found that for some products, the reimbursement ratio for amounts up to 1 million yuan is not 100%, but instead varies across tiers: Plan 1 reimburses 30%, Plan 2 reimburses 50%, and Plan 3 reimburses 80%.
For "No Health Declaration" version products, streamers claimed, "Even with a history of cancer or tumors, you can still apply for coverage," and "Pre-existing conditions are eligible for application and claims." However, upon reviewing the insurance terms and manuals, reporters discovered that pre-existing conditions such as cancer, heart attack, and stroke are not covered but explicitly excluded.
However, institutions hold a different view. A product expert explained to reporters that the phrase "covers both major and minor illnesses" is marketing language used in live streams to simplify which conditions are covered—a key concern for customers—and make it easier for consumers to understand. For instance, products with health declarations do not cover pre-existing conditions diagnosed before purchase. However, after purchase, coverage applies regardless of disease type; both major and minor illnesses are covered. Products without health declarations exclude severe pre-existing conditions such as cancer, heart attack, or stroke, but they do cover illnesses that occur after purchase, including minor issues present before enrollment (e.g., uterine fibroids). It is possible that some live stream hosts exaggerating claims like "everything is covered" could lead to claim disputes. Some disputes involve disagreements over payouts for heart attacks or strokes. If a host says "all claims are covered," they may specifically mean only new-onset conditions after purchase. In promoting no-health-declaration products, hosts might be capitalizing on their popularity with overstated claims, blurring the distinction between coverage before and after enrollment.
Life insurance compliance experts argue that streamers downplaying coverage restrictions and promoting specific benefits in a one-sided manner fail to convey complete product information to consumers. While this may appear to lower the barrier to entry, it actually creates hidden risks for future claims disputes by exploiting information asymmetry.
Emerging risks in AI marketing
Regulators have noted new issues arising from AI in insurance marketing.
Beyond live streaming marketing, AI-generated insurance ads have also sparked significant controversy.
A reporter on a short-form drama platform saw an AI health insurance ad: "Want coverage for hemorrhoid surgery? Don't miss this policy." The enrollment process was condensed into one sentence: "Enter your parents' names to enroll—no regional restrictions, valid at hospitals nationwide." However, the ad omitted key details such as deductibles, whether out-of-network expenses are covered, payout ratios for pre-existing conditions, and waiting periods.
Investigative reporting found that similar marketing templates are used across multiple accounts: the same marketing workflow can quickly generate a batch of new videos by simply swapping out the virtual avatar and voiceover.
These ads mislead viewers into believing that purchasing the insurance advertised requires no deductible—zero out-of-pocket threshold for medical claim reimbursement.
Notably, regulators have recognized emerging issues related to AI in insurance marketing.
In 2026 6, the National Financial Regulatory Administration issued "Guidance on the Safe Development and Application of Artificial Intelligence in Banking and Insurance" (Document No. 8), requiring pre-notification for high-risk AI scenarios (such as underwriting and public-facing marketing), mandatory human oversight at critical stages, and a strict prohibition on training large models using customers' original sensitive data.
A compliance expert from a property and casualty insurer told reporters: "While insurers vary in their internal controls for marketing activities (such as pre-approval and post-event inspections), there is still some flexibility in actual execution."
