Aetna Adds Lancaster General Hospital to Network.

KING OF PRUSSIA, Pa. -- Aetna (NYSE: AET) announced today that it has reached agreement on a multi-year contract with Lancaster General Hospital, adding the hospital to its Central Pennsylvania network.

Effective July 1, Aetna members in the Lancaster area may now receive covered services, at in-network rates from eight facilities affiliated with the hospital.

Those facilities include:

--Lancaster General Hospital

--Lancaster General Women & Babies Hospital

--Lancaster General Health Campus

--Kissel Hill Health Center

--Crooked Oak Medical Services

--Willow Lakes Medical Services

--Walter L. Aument Family Health Center

--Columbia Health Center

"We're very excited to announce the addition of Lancaster General Hospital to Aetna's network," said Mike Ungvary, head of network operations for Aetna in Pennsylvania. "Aetna aims to offer its members access to a broad network of high-quality doctors and hospitals. This agreement significantly broadens our network in the Lancaster area."

"We are pleased to be a part of the Aetna network of health care providers, and to be able to offer Aetna members convenient access to our full range of services," said Thomas E. Beeman, president and chief executive officer of Lancaster General Hospital.

Lancaster General Hospital is a 563-bed non-profit community hospital with a reputation for excellence. It was been recognized with distinctions and awards such as the 100 Top Hospitals Award for five years; Magnet Hospital designation from the American Nurses Credentialing Center; and U.S. News and World Report's list of the 50 Best Hospitals for both heart care and diabetes care. The hospital has also received special recognition for its orthopedics programs and outcomes, intensive care unit and cardiology services.

The hospital is home to Lancaster County's only accredited trauma center, and recently completed extensive renovations to its state-of-the-art emergency department. Lancaster General Hospital employs more than 4,600 people, and has more than 470 physicians and surgeons on staff.

Aetna provides health benefits to more than 1 million members in Pennsylvania. Members in the Central Pennsylvania area have access to a contracted network of 21 hospitals, 825 primary care physicians and 2,014 specialists.

As one of the nation's leading providers of health care, dental, pharmacy, group life, disability and long-term care benefits, Aetna puts information and helpful resources to work for its approximately 14.4 million medical members, 12.8 million dental members, 9.0 million pharmacy members and 14.0 million group insurance members to help them make better informed decisions about their health care and protect their finances against health-related risks. Aetna provides easy access to cost-effective health care through a nationwide network of more than 672,000 health care professionals, including approximately 400,000 primary care and specialist doctors and 4,084 hospitals. For more information, please visit www.aetna.com. (Figures as of March 31, 2005)