Aetna Signs New Multi-Year Agreement with the Reading Hospital and Medical Center.

KING OF PRUSSIA, Pa. -- Aetna (NYSE: AET) announced today that it has signed a multi-year agreement with The Reading Hospital and Medical Center, adding the Berks County hospital to the company's Southeastern Pennsylvania managed care network.

Under the agreement, which takes effect Jan. 1, members of Aetna's managed care plans in Southeastern Pennsylvania again will be able to receive covered services, at in-network rates, at The Reading Hospital.

The new contract also covers Reading Professional Services (RPS), the hospital-affiliated physician practice. With this agreement, Aetna adds 28 new RPS physicians and more than 40 hospital-based physicians to its network.

"Aetna is excited to renew its relationship with Reading Hospital and Medical Center," said Michael Ungvary, head of network operations for Aetna in Southeastern Pennsylvania. "This is an important, fast-growing market for Aetna. By expanding hospital and physician choice, we can give our present members the flexibility they desire, while also continuing to pursue opportunities with new customers in the region."

Aetna's Southeastern Pennsylvania network includes 65 hospitals, 3,379 primary care physicians and 10,188 specialists. Aetna provides health benefits to nearly 800,000 members in Southeastern Pennsylvania.

The Reading Hospital and Medical Center is a not-for-profit healthcare center providing comprehensive acute care, post-acute rehabilitation, behavioral, and occupational health services to the people of Berks and adjoining counties. Established as The Reading Dispensary in 1867, the hospital has since expanded into a leader in tertiary care for this region of Pennsylvania.

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)