Aetna Names David W. Carter Vice President of Public Relations.

HARTFORD, Conn. -- Aetna (NYSE: AET) today announced the appointment of David W. Carter as vice president of Public Relations. In his new position, he will lead Aetna's public relations activities, including news media relations, as well as Aetna public affairs, defined as public relations and grassroots activities in support of Aetna's public policy objectives. Carter will report to Roger Bolton, senior vice president for Communications.

Mr. Carter, 45, joined Aetna in January 2000, following 18 years in Washington, D.C., where he served in a number of communications and public affairs roles. In November 1996, he was appointed by President Clinton to serve as vice president of Communications for Export-Import Bank of the U.S. Prior to that, he served as deputy general manager and Senior Vice President for The Wexler Group, where he represented client interests before Congress and the Executive branch. He also served as staff associate for the Committee on Appropriations of the U.S. House of Representatives. He is a graduate of Franklin and Marshall College. He and his family reside in Simsbury, CT.

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 13.6 million medical members, 11.6 million dental members, 8.3 million pharmacy members and 13.3 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 646,000 health care professionals, including over 385,000 primary care and specialist doctors and 3,908 hospitals. For more information, please visit www.aetna.com. (Figures as of September 30, 2004)