Aetna Honored as Healthy Lifestyles Employer

HARTFORD, Conn.— Aetna (NYSE: AET) today announced that it has been selected by the National Business Group on Health (NBGH), a non-profit organization of large employers, as a Platinum winner for the 2009 Best Employers for Healthy Lifestyles awards. This is the fourth time in as many years that Aetna has been recognized by the NBGH for its commitment to workplace health and wellness programs.

Aetna was one of 63 employers honored by the NBGH in Arlington, Virginia last month. Aetna was recognized in the “Healthy Weight, Healthy Lifestyles” category for demonstrating measurable success and documenting outcomes.

In commenting about the award, NBGH Vice President LuAnn Heinen called Aetna’s program “truly a role model for other companies striving to improve the health of their employees.”

“We are very gratified to receive this recognition,” said Elease Wright, senior vice president, Human Resources. “Aetna has made a strong commitment to helping our employees and their families achieve a healthy lifestyle, both at work and at home. It’s in everyone’s best interest, especially their own.”

With a focus on building a culture of health and wellness, Aetna offers a variety of programs, resources and incentives to help employees achieve optimal health, including:


• Get Active Aetna: This 16-week, individual and team-oriented fitness action campaign helps employees adopt positive health behaviors needed to help reach and maintain a healthy lifestyle. During the 2008 campaign nearly 60 percent of Aetna’s employees participated in the program. Participants completed 970,720 hours of exercise and walked the equivalent of 136 times around the earth.
• Healthy Lifestyles Incentive Program: Aetna rewards healthy living and positive choices for better health with the Healthy Lifestyles incentive program. The program rewards employees up to $600 for completion of a health assessment and for logging their physical activity and healthy eating. Dependent family members of Aetna employees can also earn incentives for setting and completing health goals and for logging their physical activity and healthy eating. The program has demonstrated significant improvements in physical activity and healthy eating.
• Know Your Numbers Program: Aetna’s wellness screening program is designed to maximize the number of employees who complete a wellness screening that measures height, weight, blood pressure, BMI, blood glucose, cholesterol and triglycerides. The goal of the program is to increase employees’ awareness of health risks before they became serious medical conditions and provide them with the tools to manage their risk factors. Employees who have a screening and enter their results into their health assessment are eligible to receive a $100 incentive in their paycheck.