Is consumer engagement gaining traction with insurers? (US)

Some encouraging and unusual developments with Aetna and Cigna around weight loss and wellness. In December, Aetna unveiled Passage, a fitness app it developed with Microsoft, which takes the user on virtual tours of running or biking in Barcelona, New York or Rome, with real-time photos of those locations, restaurant recommendations and historical facts along the route. Cigna has bundled four apps for nutrition, exercise, and mind and body relaxation free to the first 20,000 downloaders. For instance, the most popular, Fooducate, helps users grade the nutrition in their groceries and offers more healthy alternatives. The sudden interest in consumer engagement, after languishing for the past year or so, is due to the imminency of the ACA (Accountable Care Act a/k/a ‘ObamaCare’). Prevention increasingly equals savings and is easier to achieve with apps being further along the curve than even last year. Apps latest bid by health insurers to manage wellness (American Medical News)