Aetna Pharmacy Management Selected by the HR Policy Association for Meeting Transparency Guidelines.

HARTFORD, Conn. -- Aetna (NYSE:AET) today said its pharmacy benefit management unit is one of three pharmacy benefit managers certified to meet The HR Policy Association (HRPA) Pharmaceutical Purchasing Coalition's stringent transparency test to help employers determine the true cost they pay for their prescription drugs.

This certification will enable Aetna Pharmacy Management (APM) to be selected by customer members of the HRPA coalition. The HRPA Pharmaceutical Purchasing Coalition is made up of 52 companies representing five million lives and those companies spent $3.7 billion on prescription medications in 2003.

The HRPA Pharmaceutical Purchasing Coalition announced Wednesday APM meets new principles outlined in the Transparency in Pharmaceutical Purchasing Solutions (TIPPS) platform developed for the association initiative. The TIPPS platform requires APM to meet a high set of transparency requirements regarding the way it manages pharmacy benefits for large self funded employers.

"This certification by the coalition validates our marketplace message on transparency," said Eric Elliott, president of APM. "We have consistently worked to make sure our self-funded customers know exactly what they are getting with their pharmacy benefits. Providing this level of transparency is essential in working with customers to manage overall health care costs. These efforts help support the long-term sustainability of pharmacy benefits, which is essential to improving overall health care."

In announcing APM was certified to meet the TIPPS standards, the coalition said companies that sign up for pharmacy benefits through its certified vendors may save up to nine percent of their annual prescription drug costs for employees.

More than 20 pharmacy benefit managers were contacted by the coalition to participate in its transparency initiative. Nineteen firms competed for TIPPS certification, and only three were certified.

To be certified, APM agreed to meet the following business practices:

--To charge employers the same amount that Aetna paid to the dispensing pharmacy for brand and generic drugs delivered at retail;

--To provide acquisition cost of brand and generic drugs delivered via mail order;

--To pass-through any and all payments received by Aetna from pharmaceutical manufacturers that are based on an employer's drug utilization, including rebate dollars and revenue received by Aetna for data sales and marketing studies;

--To allow an audit of contracts to verify compliance;

--To provide the capability to administer point-of-sale rebates to employers and/or employees;

--To design programs and services to help manage chronic conditions to meet individual employer needs; and

--To promote greater use of appropriate cost effective medications.

"We met this stringent test because this is the way we do business," said Elliott. "We are gratified the coalition has recognized our efforts to make transparency a central way of doing business in the pharmacy benefit management industry."

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 14.435 million medical members, 12.976 million dental members, 9.117 million pharmacy members and 13.662 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 684,000 health care professionals, including over 405,000 primary care and specialist doctors and 4,135 hospitals. For more information, please visit www.aetna.com. (Figures as of June 30, 2005)