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

[lowendlinux]

Just have to correct that misinformation, the average monthly health insurance premium for private health care for Americans is a far cry from "thousands a month," the truth is $325.00.

http://kff.org/other/state-indicator/individual-premiums/?currentTimeframe=0&sortModel={"colId":"Location","sort":"asc"}

Now back to that exciting news that the Aetna deal shows the Apple Watch is playing an increasing role in making people healthier, around the world!

That says per person families tend to be more than one person.

 

[cruggles]

Step 1: Get customers used to wearing Apple Watches
Step 2: Offer a insurance discount to those who choose to install an "Aetna Health Monitoring App"
Step 3: Slowly increase premiums of those who choose not to participate in Step 2
Step 4: Those who choose not to participate gradually leave, while others who want cheaper premiums and a free watch sign-up

Eventually leaving you with a large apple watch health-monitored customer base.

Then you can start offering different premiums based on the data uploaded.

 

[Wannabe Actuary]

Ugh. So much misinformation out there on this program...hopefully this will clarify some of it.

This information is in reference to them giving apple watches to all their employees

1. They're not just giving an apple watch to all 50,000+ employees
2. They're providing an additional subsidy of $130 (which you'll be taxed on, as additional income) in addition to their existing wellness reimbursement program. Their existing wellness reimbursement program allows you to get reimbursed for up to $200 in qualified health related expenses (fitness trackers, workout machines, gym memberships, etc...) per year. Employees get taxed on this reimbursement as additional income. NOTE - you have the choice of several apple watches to buy, but keep in mind that the total of $330 is only enough to cover the cost of a series 1 watch plus tax. If you choose to buy a series 2, you'll have some portion to pay out of pocket.
3. Each employee must choose to buy the watch if they want through a special aetna website to get the subsidy and then either pay for the rest themselves (and submit for the wellness reimbursement after the fact) or setup payroll deductions.
4. For those without a compatible iPhone, the company is simply suggesting that employees use the reimbursement program towards another fitness tracker.
5a. Aetna will not be mining your health information anymore than what employees choose to submit (similar to what is already in place with fitbits and step tracking for other healthy lifestyles rewards that can be earned).
5b. From an internal posting about the program:

By purchasing an Apple Watch through this program, you agree that you will share information through feedback surveys from Aetna on your Apple Watch experience and suggestions for new features. In addition, you’ll have an opportunity to be an early adopter of CafeWell’s new wellness app for Apple Watch once it’s released in the first half of 2017.

So you see that it's feedback surveys and 'the opportunity to be an early adopter' of a cafewell app for apple watch. There is no required health tracking.

6. As to why Aetna is offering this program, the same internal posting states:

Building a healthier world starts with us, and Aetna’s relationship with Apple continues to strengthen our social compact with our employees. We frequently introduce our newest initiatives to our employees first, and your insight consistently helps us shape the programs we offer to our customers. As part of this partnership, we are offering all employees the opportunity to purchase an Apple Watch at a significant savings, with a further price reduction if you participate in our wellness reimbursement program.

We know that many of you are already using wearable devices as part of your personal health and wellness practice. The Apple Watch program reflects our commitment to driving technology innovation in ways that will make it easier for each of us to become more engaged in proactively managing our health.

But long story short, if you can incentivize healthy behavior, and ultimately get the employees to be healthier, health insurance costs will go down.

 

[KeanosMagicHat]

Medical data has the strongest privacy laws than anything else in this country. Google: HIPAA

There is no way that Aetna can do whatever they want with the data. This is not a typical situation where privacy can be abused, like with emails and other matters. So before you speculate about what can be done, perhaps you should discover your actual rights. You're very protected in this case.

That may be the current situation but privacy laws can change very quickly.

And like everything in the modern world, Money Talks.

If insurance companies can better serve their shareholders by picking and choosing who to insure, you "watch" how quickly laws are amended to make that happen.
[doublepost=1476266937][/doublepost]

....

But long story short, if you can incentivize healthy behavior, and ultimately get the employees to be healthier, health insurance costs will go down.

Hmmmm and why would that be in the interests of the insurance company?

No, this is a bet now on the future direction they want the industry to go with even more selective qualification and individual premium customisation.

 

[Wannabe Actuary]

That may be the current situation but privacy laws can change very quickly.

And like everything in the modern world, Money Talks.

If insurance companies can better serve their shareholders by picking and choosing who to insure, you "watch" how quickly laws are amended to make that happen.
[doublepost=1476266937][/doublepost]

Hmmmm and why would that be in the interests of the insurance company?

No, this is a bet now on the future direction they want the industry to go with even more selective qualification and individual premium customisation.

Decreasing healthcare costs is in the interest of everyone. Customers benefit from the lower cost, but so does the healthcare company.

The healthcare company benefits when customers are healthier and have lower claims. From there, more often than not they HAVE to lower premiums (they can't just pocket the extra money) because most states have a minimum loss ratio requirement...meaning that a certain percentage of every premium dollar coming in MUST be spent on medical claims going out. If they fail to meet minimum loss ratio requirements they have to issue refunds.