IHPM presented the award to Aetna through its Value-Based Health (VBH) Initiative; the mission of VBH is to define and promote value, instead of cost, as the basis for health management and benefit plan design.

"Aetna is unique among VBH Award recipients because it provides value-based health programs and benefits to its own employees while also bringing them to its business customers through its products," said Sean Sullivan, President and CEO of IHPM.  "This gives Aetna a wider influence and impact than any employer has."

IHPM is a global non-profit dedicated to establishing the full value of employee health and maximizing its impact on business performance.  Aetna received the award at IHPM's Eighth Annual International Conference in Scottsdale, Arizona.  Now in its second year, the Value-Based Health Benefits awards acknowledge and reward employers that have moved beyond the conceptual phase and demonstrated leadership and innovation through the implementation of value-based health strategies, including value-based health benefit design, for their employees.

Aetna also was recognized by IHPM in 2003, when it was the inaugural recipient of the organization's President's Award for bringing health and productivity management products to the employer marketplace. It was the first time a health care services provider was honored by IHPM as a leader in health and productivity management.

"We are honored to receive this award in recognition of our work in Value-Based Insurance Design," said Laurie Brubaker, Head of Integrated Health and Productivity. "As an employer and a health plan provider, Aetna is ahead of the marketplace in actively deploying innovative value-based plan designs. There is building evidence that these benefit programs help promote better health outcomes, reduce costs, increase satisfaction and lower cost trend. We also recognize the critical link between better health and increased productivity and we are advancing enhanced integrated products and services to deliver better member health outcomes and to improve productivity within our workforce and for our customers."

About IHPM
The Institute for Health and Productivity Management (IHPM) is a global enterprise created in 1997 to establish the full value of employee health and maximize its impact on business performance. It does this by helping employers to identify the total cost impact of employee illness on business performance; choose the best opportunities to reduce this cost impact and improve performance; and measure the success of their efforts. www.ihpm.org

About Aetna
Aetna is one of the nation's leading diversified health care benefits companies, serving approximately 37.2 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, governmental units, government-sponsored plans, labor groups and expatriates. www.aetna.com