Healthcare company Aetna may be following up on its company-wide initiative by bringing discounted prices of the Apple Watch to millions of its customers. CNBC reports that both Aetna and Apple have been holding meetings over the past week to discuss ways to make this possible.
Last year Aetna announced for its 50,000 employees the firm would be providing Apple Watches at no cost as a part of their new healthy living initiative. Today’s development would significantly expand that number by including the company’s insured customers, which currently resides at about 23 million in total. CNBC says that the negotiation is over a plan to offer free or discounted rates on the Watch as a member perk.
The secret meetings took place on Thursday and Friday of last week and included Apple, Aetna, and hospital chief medical information officers from around the country.
According to one of CNBC’s sources, the timeline for the customer release is set for early next year.
The partnership between the companies could see a significant expansion in the wearable’s usage. According to a previous report from CNBC, Apple is working on developing a solution for treating diabetes. Tim Cook was even seen as actively wearing a glucose tracker prototype while walking around Apple campus.
