Aetna And SUNY Downstate Medical Center Reach New Contract Agreement

Three-year agreement with SUNY Downstate in Brooklyn improves access to care for Aetna members and SUNY patients

NEW YORK CITY, — Aetna (NYSE: AET) and the State University of New York (SUNY) Downstate Medical Center announced a new agreement for SUNY Downstate’s resumed participation in the Aetna network, and the continuing participation of University Hospital of Brooklyn’s recently acquired Long Island College Hospital campus.

Under the agreement, SUNY Downstate’s University Hospital of Brooklyn will participate for all Aetna commercial and Medicare products, including student health plans. The new agreement also will enable the more than 700 SUNY Downstate hospital-based and affiliated physicians currently participating with Aetna to continue their participation uninterrupted. Groups included in the contract are: University Hospital of Brooklyn; University Physicians of Brooklyn, P.C.; and Brooklyn Anesthesia Research.

“We are extremely pleased to have reached a three-year agreement with SUNY Downstate,” said David Kobus, Aetna senior vice president – New York Network. “Having this key facility in our network expands access to quality care at convenient locations for our members who live and work in Brooklyn.”

”We are delighted to have a new agreement that will allow Aetna members to continue to have full access to the services provided by SUNY Downstate and its excellent physicians,” said Grace Wong, vice president for managed care and clinical business at SUNY Downstate.

SUNY Downstate Medical Center is the only academic medical center in Brooklyn and one of the borough’s largest employers. A center of innovation and excellence in research and clinical service delivery, SUNY Downstate comprises University Hospital of Brooklyn; Colleges of Medicine, Nursing, and Health Related Professions; Schools of Graduate Studies and Public Health; and an Advanced Biotechnology Park and Biotechnology Incubator. Long Island College Hospital became part of Downstate’s University Hospital of Brooklyn on May 29, 2011.

About SUNY Downstate
Founded in 1860, SUNY Downstate was the first medical school in the United States to bring teaching out of the lecture hall and to the patient’s bedside. SUNY Downstate ranks ninth nationally in the number of alumni who are on the faculty of American medical schools. More physicians practicing in New York City have graduated from Downstate than from any other medical school.

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, voluntary 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.