Insurance giant Aetna reportedly met technology titan Apple in secret last week to discuss a partnership that would push the latter’s fitness-tracking smartwatches to millions of health insurance customers.
People close to the matter told CNBC that Aetna is negotiating with Apple on a plan to provide either free or discounted Apple Watches as perks for the insurer’s customers.
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The secret, invitation-only meetings took place in Southern California last Thursday and Friday, sources said. Executives from Aetna and Apple, as well as hospital chief medical information officers from all across America attended the meeting.
Aetna’s supposed timeline for this collaboration to launch is slated for early next year.
“This is a logical step for Apple’s broader distribution of their watch, and this type of partnership has been on their radar from the beginning,” Tim Bajarin, president of tech advisory firm Creative Strategies, told CNBC.
When reached for a statement, both Apple and Aetna declined to comment on the speculation.
Currently, Aetna covers 23 million customers. The insurer was recently hit with a lawsuit by its own shareholders, who claim that Aetna’s board breached its fiduciary duties to the company and stockholders by lying about why it had to withdraw from the ACA exchanges of 11 states.
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