In a partnership with Apple, health insurance company Aetna announced Tuesday a new app and wellness program that will track and offer personalized health recommendations to its customers, and grant them the option to redeem points for gift cards or toward payments for an Apple Watch by meeting activity goals and other health-related challenges. In short, you can expect a free Apple Watch as long as you’re taking care of yourself.
Axar.az reports citing Time.
To participate in Aetna’s program, which kicks off later this spring, users will need either an iPhone 5S or newer, or an Apple Watch Series 1 or newer. The announced Attain app — which resembles Apple’s in-house apps — will provide personalized activity goals based on your age, sex, and weight, and challenge you to engage in activities like getting more sleep. It turns your activity and challenges into points, which can be redeemed for items like gift cards should you not want to put them toward the payment of your Apple Watch.
Health insurance providers certainly have an incentive to improve their customers’ overall health, as that could reduce the number of claims they have to pay out over long term. And a free Apple Watch will no doubt appeal to many people looking to try out the wearable or improve their health, though skeptical customers might be scared off by the prospect of providing even more health data to insurance companies. But Aetna says the information gathered by Attain “will not be used for underwriting, premium or coverage decisions,” and will be used only to improve the app’s custom recommendations. Furthermore, Aetna says the data gathered will be encrypted and fully HIPAA compliant, stored securely by both Aetna and Apple.