Aetna Welcomes Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center

Aetna (NYSE: AET) and Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) today announced a new agreement on a three-year contract that adds the Center to Aetna’s provider network. The agreement will take effect on April 1. "This is an extremely positive development for our members,” said Troy Brennan, MD, Aetna chief medical officer. "Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center is a well established leader in the study, research and, above all, treatment of cancer, and their multidisciplinary, singularly focused approach to treating patients with cancer often leads to better outcomes and strong patient satisfaction. We believe this agreement will come as terrific news to our members and to our customers across the country.” MSKCC has been a part of Aetna’s national Institutes of Excellence network for various adult bone marrow transplant procedures since July 2002, based on a strong track record of providing superior quality and clinical outcomes for these procedures. In addition, since 2005, Aetna has maintained a special arrangement with MSKCC, enabling customers to purchase, through a higher premium rate, full in-network access to covered services at the Center. Today, approximately 60 Aetna customers have purchased this option. "Under the agreement, all members of Aetna network-based plans will be able to receive covered in-patient and out-patient services, at in-network rates, from MSKCC,” Michael Hudson, president of Aetna’s Northeast Region, leading regional health care delivery operations. Memorial Hospital, with 437 beds, is located at 1275 York Avenue, between 67th and 68th Streets on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. Along with state-of-the-art facilities for diagnosis, inpatient, and ambulatory cancer care in Manhattan, MSKCC has outpatient facilities located throughout the tri-state area in New Jersey, Long Island, and Westchester County. In 2006, more than 21,000 patients were admitted to Memorial Hospital and Memorial Sloan-Kettering accommodated more than 431,160 outpatient visits at its Manhattan and regional sites combined. "As one of the world's premier cancer centers, MSKCC is committed to exceptional patient care, leading-edge research, and superb educational programs,” said John R. Gunn, Executive Vice President, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. "We are pleased that Aetna members will have the opportunity to access Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center on an in-network basis and we look forward to having a long-term relationship with Aetna for the benefit of its members who are or will be in our care.” Aetna is one of the nation’s leading diversified health care benefits companies, serving approximately 36.7 million people with information and resources to help them make better informed decisions about their health care. Aetna offers a broad range of traditional and consumer-directed health insurance products and related services, including medical, pharmacy, dental, behavioral health, group life and disability plans, and medical management capabilities and health care management services for Medicaid plans. Our customers include employer groups, individuals, college students, part-time and hourly workers, health plans, government-sponsored plans and expatriates. www.aetna.com