Aetna Teams with Primary Care Physicians to Identify and Treat Depression Early; New Program Arms Primary Doctors with Improved Tools and Resources to Help Patients Struggling with Health and Behavioral Issues.

HARTFORD, Conn. -- Aetna (NYSE:AET) today announced a new program to help speed a physician's diagnosis of depression in order to arrange for appropriate treatment more quickly and improve a patient's recovery. The new program, Aetna Depression Management, will be the first national program to integrate medical and behavioral health care at the primary care physician (PCP) office and provide incentives for screening and assessment as patients first enter the health care system.

Aetna's program will provide proven clinical tools for physicians, training for office staff, access to Aetna nurse case managers and support from Aetna's network of behavioral health specialists. Importantly, the program increases reimbursement for PCPs who actively screen and talk with patients to diagnose depression.

"The incidence of depression is a significant national problem," said Aetna Chairman and CEO John W. Rowe, M.D. "Patients continue to forego treatment of depression, and their illness can result in symptoms that diminish their quality of life and personal productivity. By focusing our program on an integrated care model at the primary care physician's office, we can improve the likelihood that depression will be diagnosed early and help clinicians better manage health problems that are attendant to depression. This program can make a real difference in the lives of the patients struggling with physical and behavioral health issues."

Aetna has experience in managing depression in its disease and disability management programs. The company conducts phone screenings of chronically ill patients in those programs and has found that as much as 20 percent of that population is suffering from some form of depression.

"The incidence of depression in chronically ill patients in our own population was a wake-up call to us that we needed to find a way to get to these patients sooner," Dr. Rowe said. "That's why we created this program focused on PCPs."

National studies show that up to 10 percent of the population may suffer from depression, the fifth largest disability affecting the United States. Costs for medical care and productivity loss related to depression are estimated to exceed $40 billion annually.(1)

Several recent national studies have highlighted the fact that the mental health care system is fragmented and in need of reform.(2)

Aetna Depression Management will be a pilot program in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, Virginia, the District of Columbia, Oklahoma and Texas. The program:

--Provides a turnkey depression treatment program for PCPs based on the clinically proven Three Component Model (3CM(TM)) program. The model uses an empirically validated, standardized depression screening tool and outcome measurement tools. 3CM was designed and funded by the MacArthur Initiative on Depression and developed through programs run by Dartmouth College and Duke University. The three components include: 1) a prepared practice working with 2) a care manager and 3) a behavioral health specialist. The care manager helps guide and facilitate a patient's adherence to the prescribed treatment.

--Gives the doctors access to a network of psychiatrists who are on call throughout the day to answer questions about treatment that may be needed outside the PCP office. In addition, Aetna case managers track and follow up with patients.

--Redesigns Aetna's mental health benefit policy to reimburse PCPs for screening and assessing patients for depression.

--Includes a Web-based Continuing Medical Education program for PCPs and brings training and heightened sensitivity and educational materials to the doctors who first see patients, available at www.aetnadepressionmanagement.com.

--Provides training for office staff of participating PCPs who also work and interact with the patients.

--Distributes member-targeted communications materials for use by the PCPs.

"We know depression can be effectively treated and that 80 percent of patients who receive appropriate treatment feel better physically and emotionally. Early intervention will improve medical outcomes and that is why we want to involve primary care physicians, where symptoms can first be recognized," said Mary Fox, head of Aetna Behavioral Health.

"However, we also know primary care physicians face tight time constraints in treating all their patients and that screening and properly assessing patients for depression takes time. That is why we are providing financial reimbursement for their services, easy-to-use tools, and a clinically proven model to coordinate care management. By bringing this direct focus on the early treatment of depression, we can make sure our members get improved mental health care," Fox said.

The Aetna Depression Management program comes as Aetna Behavioral Health is launching a full-service behavioral health business by bringing in-house the Aetna portion of the business - about 11 million members - that has been administered by Magellan Health Services the past seven years. The transition to bring the Aetna portion of behavioral care business back from Magellan takes effect Jan. 1, 2006.

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 14.65 million medical members, 13.03 million dental members, 9.34 million pharmacy members and 13.68 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 700,000 health care professionals, including over 418,000 primary care and specialist doctors and 4,231 hospitals. For more information, please visit. www.aetna.com (Figures as of September 30, 2005).

(1) Greenberg, P.E., Stiglin, LE, Finkelstein, SN, Berndt ER. The Economic Burden of Depression in 1990. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry. 1993; 2:32-35

(2) Achieving The Promise: Transforming Mental Health Care in America, 2003; Emergency Response: A Roadmap for Federal Action on America's Health Care Crisis, 2005.