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

ChrisCW11 said:
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.
Click to expand...
I doubt Aetna is also getting access to any information stored on the apple watch. If you're super paranoid, you can just restore the software.
 
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Chupa Chupa said:
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.
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I think there will be a requirement to upload all fitness' health data for Aetna's analysis etc.
 
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ChrisCW11 said:
Yeah, because what you want is a insurance corporation that tracks your health and adjusts your premiums directly on your stats...
Click to expand...

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.
 
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CausticSoda said:
I would be very cautious about accepting a free GPS-enabled device from my employer!
Click to expand...
You think Apple undid all of their efforts to prevent tracking of the Watch (or iPhone for that matter) just for Aetna?
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ChrisCW11 said:
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.
Click to expand...
.....

What information is Aetna suddenly going to be able to access? Do you think Apple completely re-engineered WatchOS and iOS to strip away the pricey features?
 
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I would be really worried if i were their customer or a customr of any insurance company that gives a tracking device to their clients. Last thing you need is to turn 60 (20-30 years from now) and find out that no one wants to insure you anymore. I am afraid that "simplify the healthcare process" cannot be a good thing.
 
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My company just switched to Aetna and open enrollment is going on now. I'm interested to learn more about this. If anyone else gets more details please post and I will do the same.
 
Xgm541 said:
I doubt Aetna is also getting access to any information stored on the apple watch. If you're super paranoid, you can just restore the software.
Click to expand...

Then how do you think they will "simplify the healthcare process" ? When they give it to you, i don't think you can delete anything from "your" watch. Nothing comes for free even if we like to think so...
 
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Another company cashing in on its customer base. Yes, I hear the people who claim that Apple would never allow another company like Aetna to mine personal data from watch owners. But there are more ways to skin the cat and they don't involve Apple's consent. Aetna could use an interested third-party (Google?, FB?) to help them skim the data. Depending on household income, I'd bet the data file including medical and fitness details is easily worth $50 - $300 per person on the open market.
 
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