Consumer wearable company Whoop has been accepted into the Medicare ACCESS program, making its devices available at no cost to many traditional Medicare patients aged 65 and older. This marks a significant shift for the company, which has historically marketed its products to performance athletes and a younger, fit demographic.
Whoop aims to transform continuous physiological data into insights that drive behavior change. Until now, the company’s primary customer base consisted of young, active individuals rather than older adults. The acceptance into the Medicare ACCESS program positions Whoop as one of the first consumer wearable firms to gain this specific federal designation.
Ami Bhatt, Whoop’s newly appointed chief medical officer, discussed the company’s strategy for this new market segment at the STAT Summit in Boston. Speaking on Wednesday, Bhatt outlined the company’s efforts to build user experiences tailored to older patients and to demonstrate measurable health outcomes for this distinct population.