Skip to main content

Details emerge from the Apple-Aetna meeting about the Apple Watch

apple watch 3
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Want an Apple Watch? You may want to talk to Aetna. According to a report from CNBC, Apple and the insurance company held a number of “secret discussions” last week in order to make the wearable more widely accessible to Aetna customers. And with millions of individuals (23 million, to be exact) using Aetna’s services, that could mean a lot more Apple Watches for a lot more people.

Currently, Aetna already offers its 50,000 employees the smartwatch as part of its corporate wellness program. But while we may not all work for Aetna, even working with Aetna could pay off in the form of a wearable.

Apparently, it’s all part of the company’s efforts to increase public interest in a more health-conscious lifestyle, as well as to aid folks in tracking their diets. And who better to help with that than Apple, whose wearable is now the top-selling tracker in the market, having just overtaken Fitbit as the industry leader. In fact, in the first quarter of 2017, Apple shipped 22 million Apple Watches.

Moreover, Apple appears to be looking for more ways to improve its wearable, including adding “continuous and noninvasive blood sugar monitoring.” That could certainly make it far more useful to wearers, particularly those with diabetes.

Supposedly, secretive meetings happened in Southern California last Thursday and Friday. The only folks invited to the meetings were executives from the two companies, and hospital chief medical information officers from around the United States. One of CNBC’s sources claimed that Apple’s Myoung Cha, who leads Apple’s special projects in the health division, led the negotiations.

Mandi Bishop — who previously ran global health analytics over at Dell — was among one of the digital influencers invited to the event. Bishop now runs a startup called Lifely Insights and had a few takeaways to share from the meetings, CNBC reports.

When it comes to cost, Bishop expressed a lot of Aetna employees spoke about the watch being affordable for the entire family. Seeing as how many of those enrolled in the program wanted to get healthy with the help of their families, upwards of $1,000 for the devices is extremely pricey.

While the cost wasn’t resolved at the meeting, it is definitely a point of concern. Aetna hopes to work with Apple to offer either a free or discounted Apple Watch as a perk to members, but it remains unclear whether it will happen.

As for data, Bishop mentioned Aetna employees had concerns the health data collected by Apple Watch could be shared with external vendors. Others asked if information like heart rate and other vital signs could be stored in a personal health record.

Those who tested out the watch also had positive feedback to share with Apple, but there were a few issues. One complaint was Apple Watch doesn’t remind a user to move when they’re sitting for long periods of time. There is also no option to set an alert for meditation.

A majority of wearable devices are targeted for users who are already invested in their health and want to improve their workouts. But Bishop pointed out that in order for Apple Watch to make an impact on health insurers, it would have to attract those with costly chronic diseases. The device would also need to appeal to an older demographic rather than strictly young and healthy users.

We’ve reached out to Apple and Aetna, and while they’ve declined to comment, we’ll update you with any developments or timelines.

Recommended Videos
Update: Added additional details from the Apple-Aetna meeting regarding cost, data, bugs, features, and solving for chronic disease. 
Lulu Chang
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Fascinated by the effects of technology on human interaction, Lulu believes that if her parents can use your new app…
Apple may release a completely new type of iPhone in 2025
iPhone 15 Pro Max laying outside in a park.

The iPhone 16 isn’t even out yet, but that hasn’t stopped rumors about the iPhone 17 from swirling already. One of the latest comes from The Information, and it claims that a thinner iPhone 17 may be released in 2025 as a completely new addition to the lineup. It’s reported to be code-named D23 internally, and it’s expected to be a major redesign — potentially as big of a redesign as the iPhone X was in 2017.

The main changes for the D23 iPhone are a very thin body and a smaller cutout in the display. There’s also some talk that Apple may replace the Dynamic Island with a pinhole cutout, and we may see that as soon as the anticipated iPhone 16 launch this fall. Other changes might include moving the rear camera from the upper-left corner to the top center. The screen could fall somewhere between the 6.1 inches of the iPhone 16 Pro and 6.9 inches of the iPhone 16 Pro Max.

Read more
Which iPads does the Apple Pencil Pro work with? Here’s the full list
A photo of someone drawing with the Apple Pencil Pro.

With four new iPad models announced during Apple’s “Let Loose” event, there was plenty for Apple fans to like. A new iPad Pro and iPad Air were announced, with 11-inch and 13-inch models for each. Apple also lowered the price of its 10th-generation iPad, giving it a very welcome $100 price cut.

With all the excitement over the new slates and the OLED iPad Pro, it was probably easy to overlook that accessories weren’t neglected during “Let Loose." There’s a new Apple Pencil Pro that works with several of the tablets that were newly announced, along with a new Magic Keyboard. But which iPads does the new Apple Pencil Pro work with? That's what we're here to clear up.
Which iPads does the Apple Pencil Pro work with?

Read more
iPhone 15 Pro overheating? Apple just issued a patch to fix it
Someone holding the Natural Titanium iPhone 15 Pro Max.

If your iPhone 15 Pro has been running hotter than expected, then a new patch released by Apple on Wednesday should resolve the problem.

According to Apple, iOS 17.0.3, “addresses an issue that may cause iPhone to run warmer than expected,” while also providing the usual bug fixes and security updates.

Read more