Aetna To Co-Sponsor Exclusive Conference on Consumer-Driven Health Benefits; Aetna Senior Vice President, National Accounts and Global Benefits, Russell D. Fisher, to Open Conference.

Business Editors

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 8, 2002

Aetna, the first national health benefits company to offer a product in the emerging category of consumer-directed health benefit plans, will co-host health benefits business executives, brokers and consultants at a conference entitled: "Health Benefits Ahead: Are Consumers Ready to Take the Wheel?" The conference presents a topical overview of the growing movement toward consumer-directed health benefits, exploring its impact on the human resource, finance, regulatory and legal sectors. Organized by Employee Benefit News, the conference will be held at the Helmsley Park Lane Hotel in New York City, April 10, beginning at 8:30 a.m.

Aetna's Senior Vice President of National Accounts and Global Benefits, Russell D. Fisher, and his co-presenter for the opening session, Michael Taylor, senior health care consultant at Towers-Perrin, will speak about employers' search for alternative products to meet consumer demand for greater choice and flexibility, and employers' need for guidance in selecting, implementing and managing consumer-directed style products.

"The intent of this conference is to explore how each of the sectors currently engaged in employer-sponsored health benefits will need to evolve as consumers assume more responsibility for their health care and their health benefits," Fisher said. "Aetna's role as a sponsor of the Consumer-Directed Health Benefits conference is to support informed decision-making in all of our customer segments about this new and important category of health benefit plans."

"It's not surprising that the latest defined contribution health plans are generating a lot of interest," Taylor said. "The current challenge for employers is understanding and evaluating new options among consumer-directed offerings. Careful analysis of pricing and positioning will help companies that choose consumer-directed benefit plans succeed."

Other speakers/topics include:

-- Jean Schauer, Watson, Wyatt, Employee Education Imperatives

-- Tony Kotin, William M. Mercer, How to Evaluate Whether CDH is

Right for Your Organization

-- Robert Gold, Ernst and Young, Actuarial Implications

-- John Hickman/Ashley Gillihan, Alston & Bird, Legal and Regulatory Compliance Issues

-- Daniel "Stormy" Johnson, M.D., Physician Perspectives

Aetna's new consumer-directed product, Aetna HealthFund(TM), launched in September 2001, combines a preferred provider (PPO) plan with a unique, employer-paid health fund that can be rolled over at year-end with any remaining funds going toward covered services in subsequent years. This product includes Aetna NavigatorTM, a powerful and comprehensive online resource that provides additional value by enabling members to manage their health and track health expenditures on a personalized, secure website, as well as obtain pertinent information about health issues.

Aetna will be co-sponsoring similar conferences with Employee Benefits News in Dallas on April 25 and Chicago on May 7. For more information on the conferences, please contact Gary DeHart at 678-202-6523.

Aetna is one of the nation's leading providers of health care and related group benefits, serving 15.6 million health care members, 12.4 million dental members and 11.5 million group insurance customers, as of January 1, 2002. Information about Aetna is available at www.aetna.com.