"These actions will reduce our operating costs and allow us to manage through the economic downturn from a position of strength," said Ronald A. Williams, chairman and CEO.  "The fundamentals of our business are solid, and we continue to win in the marketplace.  While changes like this are never easy, they will help us maintain our strong competitiveness and ensure our continuing success."
  
The company said the job eliminations are targeted to ensure that they do not impair Aetna's ability to meet its customer commitments and growth targets going forward. Eligible employees will receive severance benefits based on length of service as well as outplacement and other support programs.

About Aetna
Aetna is one of the nation's leading diversified health care benefits companies, serving approximately 37.2 million people with information and resources to help them make better informed decisions about their health care. Aetna offers a broad range of traditional and consumer-directed health insurance products and related services, including medical, pharmacy, dental, behavioral health, group life and disability plans, and medical management capabilities and health care management services for Medicaid plans. Our customers include employer groups, individuals, college students, part-time and hourly workers, health plans, governmental units, government-sponsored plans, labor groups and expatriates. For more information, see www.aetna.com.

1 As Aetna believes this charge neither relates to the ordinary course of its business nor reflects underlying business performance, the company will reflect the charge as an "other item" and exclude it from 2008 operating earnings