Aetna Assists Those Affected By Hurricane Ike

HARTFORD, Conn. — Aetna (NYSE: AET) announced today it has temporarily lifted some medical and pharmacy policy requirements for members affected by Hurricane Ike, including relief workers traveling to the impacted areas.

Aetna members from the hurricane zone who have had to evacuate, may temporarily:

* Receive in-network benefits for care out of their network in any state, and seek care from providers, including dentists, other than their designated primary care physicians;
* Refill prescriptions even if they are not due to be filled for 30 days and, for those who use Aetna’s mail-order pharmacy, receive replacement for any lost or damaged prescriptions; and
* Receive treatment covered under their plan without medical pre-certification, referrals, or notification of hospital admissions.

These measures are intended to remove barriers to accessing needed health care and to ease administrative burden for our members during this crisis. “Our focus is on helping our members get the care they need, recognizing that many have been evacuated from their homes and may not be able to use their usual pharmacies, physicians and hospitals,” said Aetna Chairman and CEO Ronald A. Williams.

Aetna encourages everyone to “disaster-proof” their health information, both of which should be readily accessible in times of disaster. Tips on how to protect your family’s health in the event of a natural disaster can be found at www.planforyourhealth.com/family.

Further measures may be taken depending upon the final course of the storm and its landfall impact along the Gulf coast and inland. For more updates on what Aetna is doing for members affected by Hurricane Ike, please visit www.aetna.com.

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. www.aetna.com