Best Buy Offers Aetna Products
Best Buy has started selling “wellness plans” from Aetna, reports MobileHealthNews. According to the article,
“Three Best Buy stores in the suburban Chicago area are now selling four wellness programs offered by Aetna focused on fitness, weight management, smoking cessation, and stress management. Shoppers can buy hanging cards that explain each of the online programs that they can then access online. Each program costs $19.99.”
The article doesn’t define exactly what the consumer gets for $19.99, although it must be guidance or online advice, not actual health insurance. My first reaction, as someone who spent a decade working for a health insurance company, is that this marks the rehabilitation of the HMOs. At the height of the managed care hatred, 1995-2005, Best But would never have wanted to be associated with Aetna or any other health insurer. At one point, health insurers vied with tobacco companies as the most hated corporations.
According to the news article, Best Buy has created “health departments” in some of its stores and is selling “health devices like Withings’ blood pressure cuff, iHealth’s weight scale, the Basis B1 Band, Fitbit Ultra, or Jawbone’s UP.”
The article reported that an Aetna spokesperson said
“If shoppers are at Best Buy to purchase a pedometer or blood pressure cuff, they might also be interested in a program that helps them achieve health goals associated with the device. Best Buy employees at these three particular stores have been trained specifically to help shoppers in the health department sections.”
Will the new effort succeed?
The report points out that in 2004, Best Buy attempted to launch a new chain of retail stores, called Eq-Life, which “which aimed to help women shoppers buy technology and resources to manage their family’s health.”
The idea never gained traction and was quietly folded.
I don’t know if the having Aetna products will make money for Best Buy, but I know it is a winner for the health insurers. This is a major marketing coup. They are displayed on Best Buy’s shelves along with Apple, Microsoft, HP, Samsung, Symantec and many other highly respected consumer brands.
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