Aetna is the latest health insurance provider to partner with Apple in hopes of capitalizing on the Apple Watch 4’s incredible health monitoring capabilities. The launch of its new app Attain, gives Aetna beneficiaries the ability to track and be rewarded for healthy behavior. Unlike existing wellness programs, such as United Healthcare’s, the value of Attain is its focus on personalizing each individual’s experience. Apple Watch users will be able to receive personalized health goals, recommendations, nudges, and rewards. Attain incorporates user-provided medical data and data collected by the Apple Watch to make each suggestion.
Aetna enrollees have the option of receiving an Apple Watch 3 directly from the insurance provider or paying out of pocket for the Apple Watch 4. Users can pay back the price of the device over 24 months by accomplishing fitness goals and receive other benefits like corporate gift cards. While only 250,000 to 300,000 slots in the program are currently available, Aetna is planning on rolling it out to all of its 22.1M members.
Although Aetna’s collaboration with Apple allows the insurance provider to provide enrollees with personalized health recommendations, there is a concern among users about sharing private health information. In light of the various breaches in privacy by several tech giants over the past couple years, Apple has stated it will not access any data identifying an individual and Aetna has said it will not use the data to make coverage decisions. Nonetheless, this new initiative by Aetna marks the start to a widespread adoption of personalized medicine.