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The Apple Watch will be available to eligible employer-sponsored program participants, allowing people to use their existing Apple Watch or shop for a new one. One payment option allows participants to start using an Apple Watch by only paying tax and shipping starting off and then later applying program earnings toward the purchase price of the Apple Watch. UnitedHealthcare suggests that participants could own an Apple Watch after about six months of meeting daily walking goals.
UnitedHealthcare Motion gives participants access to wearables that could help them earn $1,000 a year by meeting walking goals. The program has handed out almost $38 million in rewards with more than 235 billion steps earned.
The Motion program is a part of UnitedHealthcare’s effort to give more people wearables, digital resources and financial incentives to make healthy lifestyle decisions and manage chronic conditions and make healthcare more affordable. The program’s efforts build upon UnitedHealthcare’s existing consumer offerings through Rally, which has so far given out $1 billion in health-related financial incentives since 2016.
“UnitedHealthcare’s success using wearables, incentives and digital platforms has helped people enhance their well-being, providing support and motivation to stay engaged in their health,” Rebecca Madsen, chief consumer officer of UnitedHealthcare, said in a press release. “More employers and consumers are adopting wearables and digital platforms as key resources to support them on their journey toward better health.”
The company suggests that people diagnosed with chronic conditions are 20% more likely to participate in the incentives program. People who have diabetes are 40% more likely to participate as well.
UnitedHealthcare Motion is available to employers with self-funded and fully insured health insurance plans. Employees can earn up to $4 a day in financial incentives based off of the FIT goals. The FIT goals include completing 500 steps within seven minutes, six time per day and an hour apart; completing 3,000 steps within 30 minutes and completing 10,000 total steps each day.
People who are already enrolled in the UnitedHealthcare Motion program can now use Apple Watch to track their progress toward the three daily goals. The FIT goals are available in the UnitedHealthcare Motion app that can be integrated with Apple Watch to track goals.
