Aetna Launching New Apple Watch Health Coach Program 'Attain' in Spring 2019

Aetna, the third-largest health insurance provider in the United States, today announced the upcoming launch of Attain, a personalized well-being app for iPhone and Apple Watch created in collaboration with Apple.

aetna attain watch
Through the use of an Apple Watch, the Attain app will provide Aetna members with personalized goals, track their daily activity levels, and recommend healthy lifestyle choices. For completing these actions, participants will earn points, which can be put towards the cost of an Apple Watch or gift cards.

Attain will motivate participants to complete personalized daily and weekly activity challenges based on their age, gender, and weight. Attain's definition of activity includes walking, running, swimming, yoga, and other activities that can be tracked in the Workout app on the Apple Watch.

The app will also prompt participants with healthy action notifications, including reminders to meet activity goals, get vaccinations such as the flu shot, refill medication prescriptions, visit a primary care physician if they have not had a recent office visit, and more, according to Aetna.

To participate in the program, Aetna members will need an ‌iPhone‌ 5s or newer and an Apple Watch Series 1 or newer.

Attain participants will have the option to share their health data with Apple, enabling Apple and Aetna to collaborate and continue to improve the program. Through analytics and machine learning, Aetna says the collaboration will lead to new features for Attain, including more personalized recommendations.

Apple's COO and Apple Watch chief Jeff Williams:

Every day, we receive emails and letters from people all over the world who have found great benefit by incorporating Apple Watch into their lives and daily routines. As we learn over time, the goal is to make more customized recommendations that will help members accomplish their goals and live healthier lives.

Attain is a completely voluntary program in which members determine what information they want to share and can discontinue using the app at any time. All health data is encrypted on the device, in transit, and on Aetna and Apple's servers, where it will be stored with industry-leading HIPAA-compliant security practices.

Information from this program will not be used for underwriting, premium, or coverage decisions, according to Aetna, which was acquired by CVS Health last year. Instead, the idea seems to be that healthier customers will result in Aetna receiving fewer insurance claims, thereby saving it money.

Aetna expects the Attain app to be available in the App Store in Spring 2019. Interested members can sign up at AttainbyAetna.com to be notified when the app becomes available for download in the coming months.

In 2016, Aetna offered the Apple Watch free of charge to 50,000 employees.

Related Roundup: Apple Watch 11
Tag: Aetna
Buyer's Guide: Apple Watch (Buy Now)

Popular Stories

iOS 26

Everything New in iOS 26.1 Beta 1

Monday September 22, 2025 12:44 pm PDT by
Apple released the first beta of iOS 26.1 today, just a week after launching iOS 26. iOS 26.1 mainly adds new languages to Apple Intelligence, but there are a few other features that are worth knowing about. New Apple Intelligence Languages Apple Intelligence is now available in Danish, Dutch, Norwegian, Portuguese (Portugal), Swedish, Turkish, Chinese (Traditional), and Vietnamese. AirPo...
iPhone 17 Pro and Air Feature

Two iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone Air Colors Appear to Scratch More Easily

Friday September 19, 2025 10:02 am PDT by
As reported by Bloomberg today, some of the new iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone Air models on display at Apple Stores today are already scratched and scuffed. French blog Consomac also reported on this topic. The scratches appear to be most prominent on models with darker finishes, including the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max in Deep Blue, and the iPhone Air in Space Black. Images Credit: Consoma ...
apple tv 4k new orange

Next Apple TV Expected to Launch This Year With These New Features

Monday September 22, 2025 10:00 am PDT by
The next Apple TV is expected to be released later this year, and a handful of new features and changes have been rumored for the device. Below, we recap what to expect from the next Apple TV, according to rumors. Likely Features N1 Chip With Wi-Fi 7 Last year, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said the next Apple TV would be equipped with Apple's own combined Wi-Fi and Bluetooth chip, which is...
Apple Intelligence General Feature 2

iOS 26.1 Adds New Apple Intelligence Languages and Expands AirPods Live Translation

Monday September 22, 2025 11:15 am PDT by
With iOS 26.1, Apple Intelligence is gaining support for additional languages, including Danish, Dutch, Norwegian, Portuguese (Portugal), Swedish, Turkish, Chinese (Traditional), and Vietnamese. Apple announced plans to expand the languages that can be used with Apple Intelligence last year, and now the added language support is here. Apple Intelligence is now available in the following...
Apple Foldable Thumb

Foldable iPhone Like 'Two Titanium iPhone Airs' Joined at the Hinge

Monday September 22, 2025 2:16 am PDT by
Next year's rumored foldable iPhone will showcase an ultra-thin design resembling "two titanium iPhone Airs side-by-side," according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Writing in the Q&A section of his latest Power On newsletter, Gurman says Apple's first foldable device will be "super thin and a design achievement," combining Apple's thinnest iPhone form factor with cutting-edge folding...
iPhone 17 Pro and Air N1 Feature

Some iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone Air Users Experiencing Intermittent Wi-Fi Issue

Monday September 22, 2025 8:44 am PDT by
Apple's latest iPhone models launched on Friday, and some early adopters of the devices are experiencing intermittent Wi-Fi issues. Affected customers say Wi-Fi connectivity periodically cuts out on the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, iPhone 17 Pro Max, and iPhone Air, with hundreds of comments about the issue posted across the MacRumors Forums, Reddit, and the Apple Support Community over the...
iPhone 17 Pro USB C Port

iPhone 17 Pro Max's USB-C Charging Speeds Tested With Apple Chargers

Monday September 22, 2025 7:29 am PDT by
The website ChargerLAB has tested the iPhone 17 Pro Max's USB-C charging speeds with a variety of Apple's chargers, from 18W to 140W. The device reached a peak charging speed of around 36W with the following Apple chargers:40W Dynamic Power Adapter with 60W Max 61W USB-C Power Adapter 67W USB-C Power Adapter 70W USB-C Power Adapter 96W USB-C Power Adapter 140W USB-C Power AdapterFor...

Top Rated Comments

Baumi Avatar
87 months ago
Information from this program will not be used for underwriting, premium, or coverage decisions, according to Aetna
Yeah sure. Remember how Facebook said they were going to keep WhatsApp as a standalone product…?
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
allenvanhellen Avatar
87 months ago
Hand information on my daily habits to my health insurance company. Gee, what could go wrong with that?
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
keysofanxiety Avatar
87 months ago
"Attain's definition of activity includes walking, running, swimming, yoga, and other activities that can be tracked in the Workout app ('https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT207934') on the Apple Watch"

I wouldn't get any work done if I did everything my Apple Watch demanded. It's already becoming a digital version of a nagging wife.

I love it how Apple & their algorithms think I have nothing better to do than leap & prance around the office & home all day long.
Moving around for a minute once every hour = leaping & prancing around the office all day long? Talk about hyperbole...

Personally I find the stand goals helpful as I lose track of time about how long I sit at a desk job. Otherwise, you can turn the notifications off. I don't see the issue.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Steve121178 Avatar
87 months ago
"Attain's definition of activity includes walking, running, swimming, yoga, and other activities that can be tracked in the Workout app ('https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT207934') on the Apple Watch"

I wouldn't get any work done if I did everything my Apple Watch demanded. It's already becoming a digital version of a nagging wife.

I love it how Apple & their algorithms think I have nothing better to do than leap & prance around the office & home all day long.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
hbt15 Avatar
87 months ago
An up to the minute log of everything you do health wise, spoon fed direct to your insurance provider. Yeah, this is no cause for concern at all.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
HarryKeogh Avatar
87 months ago
Unlike a nagging wife, you can turn those notifications off.

"Attain's definition of activity includes walking, running, swimming, yoga, and other activities that can be tracked in the Workout app ('https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT207934') on the Apple Watch"

I wouldn't get any work done if I did everything my Apple Watch demanded. It's already becoming a digital version of a nagging wife.

I love it how Apple & their algorithms think I have nothing better to do than leap & prance around the office & home all day long.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)