Aetna to Provide Apple Watch to 50,000 Employees, Subsidize Cost for Customers

Excellent move and I'm sure just the first. Other companies will follow.
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I've gained 10 pounds since I've owned mine.

Perhaps you should delete the opentable app from your watch? :)

I've gained 10 pounds since I've owned mine.

You're wearing it wrong.

I've gained 10 pounds since I've owned mine.

Yeah, because what you want is a insurance corporation that tracks your health and adjusts your premiums directly on your stats.

Sure, 25% up front discount, but when they find out your health isn't great then boom, suddenly you are paying 50%, 100%, 500% more the originally? The the problem is they decide what good or bad health is, you can be fit but have a minor heart murmur your watch will pick up, suddenly you are paying 250% more the next time your insurance is renewed even if your own doctor says its nothing to worry about.

And you might think, "well I will just leave Aetna and go to another insurance company", only thing is they are all in cahoots so once they know you are at risk with poor health your records are shared with all insurance companies and suddenly you can't afford health insurance anymore anywhere.

And guess what, your employer will have access to your health records and at-risk employees might suddenly be laid off for whatever reason because a company doesn't want people that might drop dead or be a burden of long term disability leave in the future.

It amazes me how much people will jump at a marketing promotion to get something free or get a perceived savings on cost without thinking one damn minute about the ulterior motives. NO corporation wants to earn less money from you, there is ALWAYS an ulterior profit mongering scheme with anything any corporation does.

Aetna can spin this all they want, the reality is that they will use this information to increase profit off of at-risk customers OR simply cancel at-risk customers that prove to have health stats that might indicate future liability to the company when a customer might actually need to use their insurance for health reasons.

In the end, this is yet another greedy organization that is looking to make more profit by violating your privacy and it is surprising that Apple would allow this considering how vocal Apple has been to not collect consumer data for profiteering. But right now Apple just wants to sell more Apple Watches and could care less about your privacy by allowing apps such as this to tie directly into another corporation's profit scheme. Dangle a shiney bauble in front of you, suddenly people want to share their private information with a corporation.

I would be very cautious about accepting a free GPS-enabled device from my employer!

So if I become a customer I get a "free" Apple Watch? lol

LOL Oh you Canadians. We pay thousands a month in private health care. You can become a customer to get a free watch but you'll quickly see who comes out ahead :)

I've gained 10 pounds since I've owned mine.

I lost about 300 pounds upon getting mine.

But then again, I bought it in England...

Yeah, because what you want is a insurance corporation that tracks your health and adjusts your premiums directly on your stats...

Wow, great rant. Curious how exactly insurance corps are going to get all of this information you are so concerned about off your Apple Watch. You think Apple, who would not breach privacy for the FBI, is going to do it for insurance companies? Your employer?

Admittedly, just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they aren't out to get you but I think in this case you can dial it down a notch. It really does seem like a legitimate attempt to help customers.

Awesome! 25% discount on AW, 50% increase in my premium. ;)

Aetna just pulled out of the majority of state health insurance marketplaces because they were not profitable there. I guess they are trying hard in 2017 to make the other jurisdictions they still operate in unprofitable too. Seriously, I understand encouraging fitness, but the basic Fitbit does that at a fraction of the cost if that is Aetna's goal. Aetna doesn't need to provide customers with the non-health related features of AW.

Also what happens when people buy b/c of the subsidy, but then get board because they were not really motivated to exerise in the first place. $ down rat hole that will be charged to Aetna's customers later on down the road. There is no free lunch here, and this does nothing to lower the real cost of health care.

I'm not with Aetna and I already have Apple Watch but still a cool incentive/program.