Aetna customers could get free Apple Watches as part of newpartnership

Enlarge / Apple Watch Series 2. (credit: Valentina Palladino)

Aetna's 50,000 employees already use Apple Watches as part of their corporate wellness program, but Aetna may soon extend that perk to its customers. According to a CNBC report, the health insurer has been in talks with Apple to provide free or discounted Apple Watches to its 23 million customers as a member perk.

Aetna sees Apple Watches as a way to further encourage its customers to take more interest in leading healthier lives and tracking their diets better. Calling out diet tracking is peculiar since the Apple Watch doesn't offer diet tracking, but there are plenty of third-party apps that function as food diaries on your wrist. Either way, Aetna clearly sees the value in the ease of exercise and diet tracking that the Apple Watch could provide its customers.

Aetna reportedly met with Apple executives and hospital chief medical information officers late last week in Southern California to discuss the plan. Apple's Myoung Cha, with the title "special projects, health," led the meeting.

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