3.07.2003 ET

(CSRwire) HARTFORD, CT - Aetna (NYSE: AET) today announced a series of initiatives it has undertaken to assess and track racial and ethnic disparities in health care, and to develop interventions that improve the quality of care for minority members.

The company has developed a coordinated, multidimensional approach comprised of a variety of research, educational, data collection and supporting initiatives designed to enhance understanding of the cultural diversity and language preferences of its membership and participating physicians. Aetna expects that better understanding of disparities among racial and ethnic groups will enable it to target educational and outreach programs to specific member populations.

"Aetna is committed to improving the health of all of our members by working closely with physicians," Aetna Chairman and CEO John W. Rowe, M.D., said. "Reducing the gap in health care among minority populations is one of the most obvious targets for health care improvement in the United States. The scientific community and the federal government have acknowledged that systematic efforts on the part of insurers such as Aetna can have a dramatic impact on disparities in health care, and I am very proud of the initiatives that we have undertaken to date.

"A critical component of this effort is our pledge to use the data only for determining appropriate educational, outreach and quality improvement initiatives and not to determine eligibility, rating or claim payment."

Aetna's efforts to enhance health services and benefits support the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' national initiative to eliminate racial and ethnic disparities in health care.

"Disparities in health care among racial and ethnic groups have been well documented by the federal government and medical research community," commented U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy Thompson. "It is imperative that health insurers understand the race and ethnicity of their membership in order to focus their programs on preventing disease and promoting health. We appreciate efforts by Aetna to address this important
and sensitive issue."

According to HHS, compelling evidence exists that ethnic and racial gaps in health care persist and, in some cases, have widened among African-Americans, Hispanics, American Indians, Alaska Natives and Pacific Islanders, when compared to the U.S. population as a whole.

Research indicates that minorities suffer from certain diseases at significantly higher levels than the rate of white Americans. In an effort to close this gap, the federal government, under the leadership of HHS, is focusing its efforts on eliminating health status disparities in infant mortality, cancer screening and management, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, HIV infection, and child and adult immunizations.

"As the nation's only organization devoted to the needs of African-American physicians, health professionals and their patients, we are actively working to address the widespread racial and ethnic biases that exist today in the health care arena," commented L. Natalie Carroll, M.D., president of the National Medical Association. "Aetna's efforts to gain greater understanding about the diversity of its membership and the cultural competency of its participating physicians are encouraging. With this knowledge, Aetna will be well positioned to provide equal opportunity to all their members, ultimately enhancing the diagnosis, treatment and quality of life for minorities."

The groundbreaking report, "Unequal Treatment: Confronting Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Healthcare," released in 2002 by the National Academies' Institute of Medicine (IOM) showed racial and ethnic minorities receive lower-quality health care than Caucasians, even when insurance status, income, age and severity of conditions are comparable. The report's first recommendation for reducing these disparities is to increase awareness of the issue among the public, health care providers, insurance companies and policy makers. It also recommends the standardized collection of data on health care access and utilization by patients' race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status and where possible, primary language. This finding also is endorsed in the July 2002 report, "Developing a Health Plan Report Card on Quality of Care for Minority Populations," released by The Commonwealth Fund.

Systematic Collection of Data
One of Aetna's most critical initiatives focuses on the collection of race, ethnicity and language-preference data from members on a voluntary, self-identification basis. Aetna has begun gathering information from self-funded and full-risk HMO members and Medicare+Choice members. This information is collected both electronically and on paper enrollment forms in states where regulatory approval has been received. To date, Aetna has received regulatory approval from 13 states (Connecticut, Delaware, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, Nevada, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Tennessee) and the District of Columbia. Data collection will begin in California, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Texas and Virginia in 2003, when approved in those states. Requests to collect the data in additional states are pending. For Medicare+Choice, Aetna will be collecting this information in all states where this product is offered, which for 2003 includes Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Maryland and California.

As of February 2003, race and ethnicity information has been obtained from 52,000 Aetna members, or about 80 percent of the 64,000 members that had the option to provide this information. All individually identifiable information is considered confidential and is subject to Aetna's strict policies and procedures concerning privacy and security.

A second data collection initiative is focused on understanding the race and ethnicity of Aetna's network of participating physicians. Aetna plans to collect this data a number of ways, including provider surveys.

Participation by a physician is voluntary. The collection of this information will allow Aetna to address the cultural competency of its network of participating physicians and their ability to meet the racial, ethnic, cultural and linguistic needs and preferences of its member population.

Research and Community Outreach
In addition to Aetna's data collection efforts, the company has awarded more than $3 million in research grants earmarked for projects that identify and test practical means of reducing or eliminating racial and ethnic disparities in health status and the delivery of health care. The grants are funded by the Aetna Foundation and are available through Aetna's Quality Care Research Fund to researchers at member institutions of the Academic Medicine and Managed Care Forum (Forum). The 2001 grant recipients include the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey - Robert Wood Johnson Medical School; The Johns Hopkins University; and the University of Michigan. Since the 1997 inception of the Quality Care Research Fund, more than $30 million -- including over $15 million from the Aetna Foundation -- has been awarded in health services research grants.

"More research is needed to identify methods and programs that effectively address the well-documented disparities in the incidence and treatment of disease among minority populations in this country," said Dr. Rowe. "Our goal is to serve as a catalyst and encourage researchers at the nation's leading academic institutions to take a closer look at the variations in health status and health care delivery among minority populations and to design practical
solutions."

Aetna is one of the nation's leading providers of health care, dental, pharmacy, group life, disability and long-term care products, serving approximately 13.7 million medical members, 11.8 million dental members and 11.7 million group insurance customers, as of December 31, 2002. The company has expansive nationwide networks of more than 552,000 health care services providers, including over 332,000 primary care and specialist physicians and 3,373 hospitals. For more information about Aetna, please visit the company's website at http://www.aetna.com.

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