Our concern for the nation’s 46 million uninsured and others struggling to keep up with rising health care costs compels us to use our expertise in developing solutions to the challenges facing our health care system. In 2009, we built on our strong public policy record to an unprecedented degree.
Throughout the year, Aetna’s senior leaders were frequently called upon to offer insights and experience in the fast-moving health care reform process. Aetna Chairman and CEO Ronald A. Williams, who provided testimony to several congressional committees, was a frequent contributor to thoughtful dialogue in the media and a speaker to a wide variety of groups across the country.
Aetna’s goal was and continues to be to cover everyone, to improve the quality of health outcomes, to provide better value and to preserve the employer-based health care system. Our approach is multifaceted. To help ensure the all-important cost conundrum is addressed, Aetna committed resources to develop and promote the September/October edition of Health Affairs. Focused on “Bending the Cost Curve,” the edition brought together economists, researchers and public policy experts to offer real-world solutions to growing health care costs.
In addition, 2009 was a year in which we saw previous public policy commitments come to fruition. In 2008, we called on all of our U.S.-based business suppliers to do their part in addressing the issue of health care access by offering health benefits to their employees. With 95 percent of the suppliers fully compliant today, we are well on the way to achieving our goal of 100 percent compliance by year-end 2010.
