Aetna 2009 Annual Report Download - page 4

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Aetna Inc.
151 Farmington Avenue
Hartford, Connecticut 06156
Ronald A. Williams
Chairman and
Chief Executive Officer
To our shareholders:
2009 was a particularly challenging year for Aetna. Like our customers and members, we experienced
dynamic market forces brought on by the worst economic recession in 70 years. Driven by changes in
customer preferences, employment levels and stakeholder behaviors, our ability to adapt quickly to a
new reality was tested.
Recognizing that Aetna’ s 2009 results were not in line with the strong operational and financial
performance we demonstrated over previous years, we took decisive and thoughtful actions to address
our challenges. These actions included recalibrating our pricing, and strengthening our medical quality
and cost management processes to reflect the changing market conditions. We expect that these
decisions, along with efforts to enhance productivity and reduce organizational complexities, will help
us better manage through an anticipated period of slow economic recovery. I am pleased to say that the
steps we took to improve our operational performance began gaining traction prior to the end of the
year, and I firmly believe we are moving in the right direction.
Achieving areas of success
Although our financial results were not as robust as we originally projected, we did take important steps
to enhance our competitive position and achieve success in certain areas, including:
Increasing net medical membership by more than 1.2 million during the year, including almost
500,000 members in our new customer markets;
Expanding the reach of the Aetna OneSM leading-edge integrated platform to more than 700,000
members, many of whom are supported by Aetna’ s Concierge Customer Service Call Center in
High Point, N.C., that was recognized by J.D. Power and Associates for providing “An
Outstanding Customer Service Experience”*;
Acquiring Horizon Behavioral Services, LLC, which further strengthens Aetna’ s behavioral health
business and makes Aetna one of the nation’ s leading providers of employee assistance programs;
and
Taking decisive steps to diversify our membership through targeted local market growth
initiatives.
Our franchise remains strong and our brand continues to resonate in our key markets. I am proud that
throughout the year, Aetna’ s talented employees never lost sight of what mattered most – creating value
for our customers by meeting their needs each and every day. We also stayed closely involved in health
care reform, informing the political process with critical insights and data based on our significant
experience. And we continued to invest in initiatives that will help future generations achieve and
maintain good health.
Creating value for our customers
Over the past few years, adherence to our values and executing on our solid business strategy has
enabled us to reach our more near-term goals and lay a strong foundation for longer-term objectives.