Aetna Announces EAP Pilot to Reach Women at Various Life Stages with Targeted Information.

--Aetna's EAP Can Help Women Deal With Issues Related to Adoption, Infertility, Domestic Violence and Career Advancement--

HARTFORD, Conn. -- Aetna (NYSE:AET) today announced the launch of a pilot program with several customers to focus on employee assistance program (EAP) services designed for women's unique needs. An EAP is an employer-sponsored program that helps people balance the demands of work, life and personal issues. This pilot program will emphasize EAP and work life services of particular value to women who may need information related to a variety of issues such as domestic violence, child adoption, infertility issues or dealing with a diagnosis.

"Aetna recognizes the fact that women have very specific needs at different life stages, and we believe an EAP that can offer relevant help and support can be an invaluable tool for women," said Louise Murphy, head of Aetna Behavioral Health. "While everyone can benefit from the services offered through an EAP, this pilot focuses on making women at all life stages aware of the support available through the EAP as they make significant life decisions, start and raise a family, and build their financial future."

For the past two years Aetna has conducted research to understand the health-related needs of all consumers and has found that women rank EAP services as a highly desirable benefit. Aetna's research also shows that women want EAP services targeted to their specific life stage, because each life stage comes with varying needs. The pilot will concentrate on increasing awareness of the services that Aetna Behavioral Health and its EAP/Worklife services are uniquely prepared to provide to women. In that way, and by offering information tailored to life-stage themes such as getting started, family focus, and self-improvement, Aetna can help women more fully realize the value of their employer-sponsored EAP benefit.

"We are continuing our consumer research, and as we identify demographic categories of individuals looking for specific services, we will consider ways to meet their specific needs," Murphy added.

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