Apple Aiming to Bring Apple Watch to 23 Million Aetna Subscribers

Apple and Aetna are discussing ways to offer discounted Apple Watch models to millions of consumers with Aetna insurance, reports CNBC. Citing people with knowledge of Apple's plans, the site says Apple and Aetna held discussions last week that included senior officials from Apple, Aetna, and several hospitals.

Aetna already offers a program that provides the Apple Watch at no cost to its 50,000 employees and subsidizes the cost for some subscribers, but the insurance company is said to be negotiating with Apple to offer a free or discounted Apple Watch to all Aetna members.

apple watch trio

Apple's Myoung Cha, who has the title "special projects, health," led the discussions, said one of the people. The move by Aetna is part of its push to increase customer interest in a healthier lifestyle and a better tracking of diet, said one of the people.

Aetna is said to be aiming to implement some kind of program early in 2018, and its goal seems to be an expansion of plans that were announced back in September. At that time, Aetna said it was planning to subsidize the cost of the Apple Watch for large employers and individual customers.

Aetna also said it would develop several iOS health initiatives with "support" from Apple, offering "deeply integrated" health apps for iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch to Aetna customers.

The company's plan to offer discounted or free Apple Watch models to subscribers comes as Apple is on the verge of introducing a third-generation Apple Watch. Rumors suggest the upcoming device features an LTE chip that allows it to be decoupled from the iPhone and there's also a possibility we'll see a redesign.

We expect to see the third-generation Apple Watch introduced alongside new iPhones in September.

Related Roundup: Apple Watch 10
Tags: Aetna, CNBC
Buyer's Guide: Apple Watch (Neutral)

Popular Stories

iOS 19 Mock WWDC25 Feature

iOS 19 Expected to Run on These iPhones

Monday March 31, 2025 5:28 pm PDT by
iOS 19 will not be available on the iPhone XR, iPhone XS, or the iPhone XS Max, according a private account on social media site X that has accurately provided information on device compatibility in the past. The iPhone XR, iPhone XS, and iPhone XS Max all have an A12 Bionic chip, so it looks like iOS 19 will discontinue support for that chip. All other iPhones that run iOS 18 are expected...
maxresdefault

Apple Releases iOS 18.4 With Priority Notifications, Ambient Music, New Emoji and More

Monday March 31, 2025 10:03 am PDT by
Apple today released iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4, the fourth major updates to the iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 operating system updates that came out last year. iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4 come two months after Apple released iOS 18.3 and iPadOS 18.3. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. The new software can be downloaded on eligible iPhones and iPads over-the-air by going to...
AirPods Pro Firmware Feature

Apple Releases New Firmware for AirPods Pro 2 and AirPods 4

Monday March 31, 2025 11:27 am PDT by
Apple today released new firmware updates for all AirPods 4 and AirPods Pro 2 models. The new firmware is version 7E93, up from the 7B21 firmware that was installed on the AirPods Pro 2 and the 7B20 firmware available on the AirPods 4 and AirPods 4 with ANC. It is not immediately clear what new features or changes are included in the new firmware, but we'll update this article should we find ...
watchOS 11 Thumb 2 1

Apple Releases watchOS 11.4 With Sleep Alarm Update

Tuesday April 1, 2025 10:34 am PDT by
Apple today released watchOS 11.4, the fourth major update to the operating system that runs on the Apple Watch. watchOS 11.4 is compatible with the Apple Watch Series 6 and later, all Apple Watch Ultra models, and the Apple Watch SE 2. watchOS 11.4 can be downloaded on a connected iPhone by opening up the Apple Watch app and going to General > Software Update. To install the new software,...
macOS Sequoia Feature

Apple Releases macOS Sequoia 15.4 With Mail Categorization and More

Monday March 31, 2025 10:04 am PDT by
Apple today released macOS Sequoia 15.4, the fourth major update to the macOS Sequoia operating system that launched in September. macOS Sequoia 15.4 comes two months after the launch of macOS Sequoia 15.3. Mac users can download the ‌‌macOS Sequoia‌‌ update through the Software Update section of System Settings. It is available for free on all Macs able to run macOS 15. With...
iPhone 17 Pro 34ths Perspective

iPhone 17 Pro Launching Later This Year With These 10 New Features

Sunday March 23, 2025 10:00 am PDT by
While the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of March 2025: Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models have a titanium frame, and the iPhone ...
Airpods Max Feature Green Triad

Apple Releases New AirPods Max Firmware With Lossless and Low-Latency Audio Support [Updated]

Monday March 31, 2025 3:49 pm PDT by
Update 4/2/25: Apple has updated an AirPods support page to indicate that the AirPods Max (USB-C) firmware update version 7E99 is now "coming soon." The original article continues below. Apple today released a new firmware update for the USB-C version of the AirPods Max headphones. The new firmware is version 7E99, up from the prior 7A291 firmware the device was previously running....

Top Rated Comments

ksnell Avatar
100 months ago
My question is what kind of health data access will they require you to give up in order to get the free Watch. We all know nothing is "free."
Score: 21 Votes (Like | Disagree)
moz5835 Avatar
100 months ago
Why on earth would anyone let an insurance company monitor their health data? This is not going to end well for the consumer.
Score: 15 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Analog Kid Avatar
100 months ago
I can understand "discounted" as a marketing effort on Aetna's part, but free always makes me nervous. Free means they see value in the data, will probably demand access to and ownership of the data, and US insurance companies have a track record of trying to find any reason they can to deny coverage.

Offered by doctors as part of a health maintenance plan for specific conditions to reduce the number of office visits, I'm on board with. Offered by insurance companies to everyone without an obvious need? I'm skeptical.
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
jonnysods Avatar
100 months ago
Its a great idea. Since having my watch I'm easily down 20lbs.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
rjohnstone Avatar
100 months ago
Nothing is "free". You will pay for it via premium increases.

Pretty sure they'll be data mining your activity, or lack thereof, so they can use it in calculating your premiums and/or deductibles.
No HIPPA release required since they already have it when you signed up for coverage. ;)
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Zirel Avatar
100 months ago
Congratulations everyone!

You’re now paying for other people’s Apple Watches in your insurance!

Also, have small kids? Have an hobby? Work for long hours? Simply don’t like to go to gym? The hell with you! You’re an unhealthy person! Pay more for your insurance, so people that go to the gym pay less!

Do you enjoy going to the gym? Well, better keep going, because you don’t want to pay more for health insurance, do you? Want to rest today? No chance! Or it will be expensive to your wallet.

People need to get one thing straight: “once you give up your privacy, you’ll never do anything out of pure free will”
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)