Americans Can’t Escape Apple Watch, Insurers Will Subsidize Purchase Of Wearable

Apple has a lot of products that tend to sell like hotcakes, just flying off the shelves as soon as they become available, with the exception of the Apple Watch. Now, insurance company Aetna is going to subsidize the purchase of the wearable for its customers in a supposed effort to promote health. This makes the insurance giant the first major industry brand to do so.

As CNET points out, the Apple Watch can be a difficult thing to sell because it’s not as necessary to people’s lives as the iPhone or smartphones, in general, can be. The price is a turn off to some people as well, especially for a device that’s not even that useful. This didn’t stop Aetna from backing Apple on the wearable, however, and it will actually cover a majority of the price. Customers will foot the rest on a monthly basis.

The insurance company hasn’t released details on how much of the nearly $400 price it will pay for. However, even if Aetna only pays for half the price, it would still be a major discount for customers.

Speaking of which, the program will also be offered to employers where the Apple Watch will become available to workers covered by the company insurance. Aetna itself is set to provide 50,000 employees with either a “Series 1 or Series 2” version of the wearable. Understandably, Apple CEO Tim Cook is ecstatic about the news.

"Aetna's new initiatives will be a powerful force toward creating better customer experiences in health care, and we look forward to working with Aetna to make them successful," he said in a statement.

The impact of Aetna’s actions cannot be understated either as the insurance company covers as many as 23 million Americans, Fortune reports. This gives the carrier a huge clout and gives Apple a significant ally.