Aetna Files to Expand Medicare Offerings with New Part D Prescription Drug Benefit and Broader Medicare Advantage Plans.

HARTFORD, Conn. -- Aetna (NYSE: AET) has filed applications with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to be a nationwide provider of the Medicare Part D prescription drug plans, and also to participate in the regional Medicare PPO program that will be available in 2006.

Aetna has applied to offer Medicare Part D prescription drug plans to individuals and employers in every state in 2006. This confirms Aetna's intention, announced in February, to take a leadership position in this historic new benefit for Medicare beneficiaries in 2006. The new plans will provide Medicare beneficiaries an unprecedented level of support for their prescription drug benefits.

"We are pleased with the opportunity to be able to offer Medicare beneficiaries across the country this new prescription drug benefit," said Frank McCauley, head of Aetna's Retiree Markets. "The individual and group prescription drug plans would be added to Aetna's already extensive offerings for Medicare beneficiaries."

Aetna filed an application to provide the Part D plans to individuals and employers in all of the regions designated by CMS, except the territories. The CMS-approved Part D prescription drug plans will take effect January 1, 2006. Plan bids must be filed by June 6, 2005, and CMS expects to award contracts by early September.

The prescription drug plans would be available whether beneficiaries enroll in an Aetna Medicare Advantage plan or a Medicare supplement plan, or choose to remain with Original Medicare for their medical coverage. The Aetna plans also will offer employers fully insured options in providing prescription drug benefits for their retirees.

"In addition to the prescription drug plans, Aetna plans to significantly expand our Medicare Advantage medical plans in 2006," McCauley said.

With the regional PPO filings this week and local HMO and PPO plan filings that occurred earlier this year, Aetna more than doubles the number of states in which it plans to offer Medicare Advantage plans, from 5 today to 13 by 2006. The local market expansions are pending CMS approval, while insurers still must submit bids and receive CMS approval for the regional PPOs.

Aetna plans for all of its existing and new Medicare Advantage medical plans - HMOs and PPOs - to include the Part D prescription drug coverage in 2006, so that members will only have to join one plan to receive the full benefit of the federal government program. This integration of medical and prescription drug benefits will allow Aetna to provide even greater assistance to Medicare members and their physicians in managing health conditions.

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 13.7 million medical members, 11.9 million dental members, 8.4 million pharmacy members and 13.5 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 655,000 health care professionals, including over 390,000 primary care and specialist doctors and 3,937 hospitals. For more information, please visit www.aetna.com. (Figures as of December 31, 2004)

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION; CAUTIONARY STATEMENT - The information in this press release relating to Aetna's participation in the new Medicare Part D prescription drug program and the Medicare Advantage program is forward looking. Forward-looking information is based on management's estimates, assumptions and projections, and is subject to significant uncertainties and other factors, many of which are beyond Aetna's control. Important risk factors could cause actual future results and other future events to differ materially from those currently estimated by management. Those risk factors include, but are not limited to, CMS not awarding Aetna a contract under the new Medicare prescription drug program and/or under the Medicare Advantage program. For more discussion of important risk factors that may materially affect Aetna, please see the risk factors contained in Aetna's 2004 Annual Report on Form 10-K, on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which also includes a discussion of Aetna's historical results of operations and financial condition.