Officials from Apple and Hartford, Conn.-based Aetna reportedly held a series of secret negotiations Thursday and Friday to discuss expanding the Apple Watch to Aetna insurance customers, three sources familiar with the matter told CNBC.
Here are four things to know about the potential collaboration.
1. Aetna plans to expand its relationship with the tech giant, and is reportedly negotiating a plan that would offer its roughly 23 million insurance members free or discounted Apple Watches. Aetna officials hope the Apple Watch perk will go into effect early next year, according to one of the sources.
2. Myoung Cha, who has the title "special projects, health," at Apple, reportedly led the invitation-only meetings in California. The meetings included senior officials from Apple and Aetna, along with chief medical information officers from various hospitals across the U.S.
3. One of the sources told CNBC Aetna's interest in offering the Apple Watch as a member perk stems from a push to increase member interest in healthy lifestyles and diet tracking. The deal could also improve sales for the Apple Watch, which is the top-selling product in the wearable tracker market.
4. Aetna was the first U.S. insurer to partner with Apple to subsidize the Apple Watch's cost, according to a Bloomberg report from last year. As part of the 2016 deal, Aetna offers the Apple Watch to its 50,000 employees under its corporate wellness program.
Apple and Aetna declined CNBC's request for comment.