Earn an Apple Watch Through Aetna's New Wellness Program
Users who achieve their activity goals and complete health challenges will earn rewards points that can be redeemed for gift cards or to defray the cost of Apple's pricey smartwatch.
https://www.pcmag.com/news/earn-an-apple-watch-through-aetnas-new-wellness-program
Health insurer Aetna is partnering with Apple on a new wellness program offering participants some serious real-world perks for hitting their goals.
In collaboration with the Cupertino tech giant, Aetna has created a new Apple Watch ($300.00 at eBay) app dubbed Attain, which offers users personalized daily and weekly activity goals based on their age, sex, and weight as well as challenges to, for instance, get more sleep, eat better, or be more mindful. Users who achieve their activity goals and complete the challenges will earn rewards points that can be redeemed for gift cards or to defray the cost of Apple's pricey smartwatch.
The program, dubbed Attain by Aetna, is slated to launch this spring. You'll need an Apple Watch Series 1 or later and an iPhone 5S or later to participate. Interested Aetna members can head here to sign up.
Participants will also receive "personalized health notifications" encouraging them to do such things as get a flu shot, refill medication prescriptions, and visit a primary care physician if it's been a while since their last visit.
Attain by Aetna is designed for everyone "from fitness enthusiasts, to casual gym-goers, to parents who get all their exercise by keeping up with their kids," Alan Lotvin, executive vice president of transformation for Aetna owner CVS Health, said in a statement.
"You don't need to be a personal trainer or work out several hours a day to be healthier," Lotvin said. "We're designing Attain to be personalized and clinically relevant to where each individual is in their health journey. This is an ambitious challenge, and we will adapt and improve over time to create the best experience for our members."
Participants will have the option to share their Attain program data with Apple. The companies plan to use this information to improve the program by offering new features and more personalized recommendations over time.
"We believe that people should be able to play a more active role in managing their well-being," Apple COO Jeff Williams said in a statement. "As we learn over time, the goal is to make more customized recommendations that will help members accomplish their goals and live healthier lives."
Aetna promised that "user privacy and data security are at the heart of Attain."
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All Attain health data will be encrypted "on the device, in transit, and on Aetna and Apple's servers, where it will be stored in a highly secure environment using industry-leading practices fully in compliance with HIPAA," Aetna said. The company said it won't use information from the program for underwriting, premium, or coverage decisions.
The program is voluntary, and users can decide what information they want to share. Meanwhile, for tips on securing your digital privacy, head here.
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About Angela Moscaritolo
Angela Moscaritolo is PCMag's expert on fitness and smart home products. Teaching yoga for nearly 10 years has helped her in evaluating a range of connected health products including fitness trackers, heart rate monitors, rowers, smart scales, stationary bikes, strength training machines, treadmills, and more. Angela also tests smart home devices from her ranch in Florida, including air purifiers, kitchen appliances, and robot vacuums, just to name a few.
To date, Angela has written more than 6,000 articles and reviews for PCMag. Before coming into her analyst role in 2020, she spent eight years as a PCMag reporter covering consumer tech news. Prior to joining the PCMag team, she was a reporter for SC Magazine, focusing on hackers and computer security.
Angela is a graduate of West Virginia University's Perley Isaac Reed School of Journalism, and started her career writing for newspapers in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia.
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