Aetna Forms Military Health Care Advisory Committee

Aetna (NYSE: AET) today announced that it has created a Military Health Care Advisory Committee composed of former military officials, military physicians and others familiar with the health care needs of military personnel and their families. The committee will help guide Aetna Government Health Plans, an Aetna subsidiary, as it considers opportunities to grow its business relationships with the federal government, including evaluation of potential bid for the Department of Defense’s TRICARE health care plan for the uniformed services, retirees and their families.

“Aetna has a serious interest in serving our nation’s military personnel and their families, and we are delighted that our committee members have agreed to advise Aetna on how we might best meet the health needs of this special and important population,” said Susan M. Peters, president of Aetna Government Health Plans. “We believe there are significant opportunities that our leading clinical and technological capabilities make us uniquely suited to fill, and we look to the wise counsel of this committee to help us truly connect with the military health system.”

The Military Health Care Advisory Committee has six external members:

Enrique Mendez, Jr., M.D., Major General, U.S. Army, Retired; former U.S. Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs;

Paul K. Carlton, Jr., M.D., FACS, Lieutenant General, U.S. Air Force, Retired; former Surgeon General of the Air Force;

Lester Martinez-Lopez, M.D., Major General, U.S. Army, Retired; former Commanding General, U.S. Army Medical Research and Material Command;

William J. McDaniel, M.D., Rear Admiral, U.S. Navy, Retired; former Commander, Naval Medical Center, Portsmouth, Va.;

Barbara J. Ramsey, MSN, RN, Colonel, U.S. Army, Retired, Army Nurse Corps; former Deputy Director of Combat Development; and

Diane M. Rohrbough, Congressionally Recognized Advocate for Military Families and 46-Year Military Spouse.

These six experts will be joined on the committee by Susan Peters, Aetna Government Health Plans, and Robert Mead, Aetna’s head of Strategic Marketing and Communications.

Aetna has more than 150 years of experience serving large, complex accounts, including currently serving 88 percent of the Fortune 500, along with government and municipal accounts. The company has a rich history of government service, including serving the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHBP) since 1961, paying the first-ever Medicare claim in 1966 and being one of the carriers selected for the first military contract under CHAMPUS (predecessor program to TRICARE) in 1985.

Currently, Aetna serves more than 305,000 federal enrollees in the FEHBP across 37 states and the District of Columbia, and provides dental coverage to more than 80,000 federal enrollees nationwide through the Federal Employee Dental and Vision Insurance Program. Aetna offers Medicare products, including Part D, across the U.S. and the District of Columbia, serving nearly 500,000 members combined. The company also recently completed the acquisition of Schaller Anderson, Incorporated, a leading provider of health care management services for Medicaid plans. In January of this year, Aetna became the first national health plan to sign a participating provider agreement with the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) for Aetna members, making all VA providers and facilities in-network participating providers for all health plans administered by Aetna.

Aetna is one of the nation’s leading diversified health care benefits companies, serving approximately 34.9 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, long-term care and disability plans, and medical management capabilities. Our customers include employer groups, individuals, college students, part-time and hourly workers, health plans and government-sponsored plans. www.aetna.com