Vital Savings By Aetna® Expanded To Include Discounts On Pharmacy And Long-term Care Services For Individuals
HARTFORD, Conn., February 6, 2006 — Aetna (NYSE: ΑET) today announced it has expanded its Vital Savings by Aetna program to include two new discount programs for individuals. Previously, Vital Savings by Aetna offered discounts for dental services; now consumers can also select the following new products and services:
- Vital SavingsSM on Pharmacy, which includes discounts on pharmaceuticals and mail-order pharmaceuticals.
- Vital SavingsSM on Long-Term Care, which includes discounts on Skilled Nursing Facilities, Assisted Living Facilities, Home Health Care, Respite Care, Hospice Care, hearing and durable medical equipment. In addition, the long-term care package includes Aetna’s Informed Health® Line and Life Assistance Program.
Vision services, alternative health care and access to fitness facilities are included free of charge in all three packages. Consumers can choose any combination of these packages, or all three packages, if they desire. Consumers have the flexibility to pay each month or annually with their credit card or by automatic bank account withdrawal.
"Offering a broader array of products and services through Vital Savings by Aetna will provide individual consumers with greater health care choice and flexibility," said Laurie Brubaker, Aetna’s national general manager for Individual Markets. "The new programs were developed as a result of research we conducted recently to ensure individual consumers’ needs are addressed appropriately, especially the needs of the growing uninsured and under-insured population."
Individuals can sign up for these programs through the Vital Savings by Aetna website at www.vitalsavings.com. Vital Savings by Aetna participants pay a low monthly or annual fee for each program. Vital Savings by Aetna is not insurance; rather, it offers access to certain providers who give participants discounts on the above services.
Beginning in October 2003, Vital Savings by Aetna was available to groups with 300 or more employees and retirees. In July 2004, the dental discount program was extended to groups with 51 or more employees, consumers in the retiree population, those who may not have dental coverage through their employer, or individuals who opted out of dental insurance for personal or financial reasons.
As one of the nation’s leading providers of health care, dental, pharmacy, group life, disability and long-term care benefits, Aetna puts information and helpful resources to work for its approximately 14.65 million medical members, 13.03 million dental members, 9.34 million pharmacy members and 13.68 million group insurance members to help them make better informed decisions about their health care and protect their finances against health-related risks. Aetna provides easy access to cost-effective health care through a nationwide network of more than 700,000 health care professionals, including over 418,000 primary care and specialist doctors and 4,231 hospitals. For more information, please visit www.aetna.com. (Figures as of September 30, 2005)
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