Aetna Chairman And CEO Ron Williams Testifies On Delivery System Reform During Senate Finance Committee Roundtable Discussion

WASHINGTON, D.C., April 21, 2009 — Aetna (NYSE: AET) Chairman and CEO Ronald A. Williams today appeared before the U.S. Senate Finance Committee to suggest a set of priorities for reforming the health care delivery system and to encourage Congress to implement a number of successful private-sector innovations on a wider scale to benefit the entire population.

In his written testimony, Mr. Williams noted that health care reform needs to go beyond improving health care access to help ensure the system delivers high-quality health care.

“We cannot ensure a high standard of care for all Americans until we repair our health care delivery system,” he said. “We need a health care system that can help Americans achieve their optimal health by delivering the right kind of care to everyone who needs it every single time,” he continued.  “Today, we simply do not have such a delivery system in place.”

Based on Aetna’s experience in developing innovative programs and tools for its customers, Mr. Williams noted that achieving an ideal delivery system requires focus on several key areas:

• We need to harness the power of health information technology so that we can turn complex health data into knowledge that physicians can act on to improve health outcomes.
• We need to make wellness and prevention a priority in our health care system. Our seat belt laws and anti-smoking efforts have achieved great results, and we need this same type of commitment in the wellness challenges facing us in the areas of obesity and encouraging healthy behaviors.
• We must reform our payment system, utilizing public programs alongside private sector innovations so that our focus rests on value and quality rather than volume.

To learn more about his specific proposals and Aetna’s experience in each of the three targeted areas, read Mr. Williams’ written testimony on Aetna.com. To learn more about Aetna’s plan for transforming the health care system, visit www.healthreformplan.com.

About Aetna
Aetna is one of the nation’s leading diversified health care benefits companies, serving approximately 36.5 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