Aetna 2009 Annual Report Download - page 92

Annual Report – Page 86
Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm
The Board of Directors and Shareholders
Aetna Inc.:
We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets of Aetna Inc. and subsidiaries
(the “Company”) as of December 31, 2009 and 2008, and the related consolidated statements of
income, shareholders' equity, and cash flows for each of the years in the three-year period ended
December 31, 2009. We also have audited the Company’ s internal control over financial
reporting as of December 31, 2009, based on criteria established in Internal Control - Integrated
Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission
(COSO). The Company’ s management is responsible for these consolidated financial statements,
for maintaining effective internal control over financial reporting, and for its assessment of the
effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting, included in the accompanying
Management’ s Report on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting. Our responsibility is to
express an opinion on these financial statements and an opinion on the Company's internal
control over financial reporting based on our audits.
We conducted our audits in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting
Oversight Board (United States). Those standards require that we plan and perform the audits to
obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material
misstatement and whether effective internal control over financial reporting was maintained in all
material respects. Our audits of the consolidated financial statements included examining, on a
test basis, evidence supporting the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements, assessing
the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, and evaluating the
overall financial statement presentation. Our audit of internal control over financial reporting
included obtaining an understanding of internal control over financial reporting, assessing the risk
that a material weakness exists, and testing and evaluating the design and operating effectiveness
of internal control based on the assessed risk. Our audits also included performing such other
procedures as we considered necessary in the circumstances. We believe that our audits provide a
reasonable basis for our opinions.
A company's internal control over financial reporting is a process designed to provide reasonable
assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial
statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. A
company's internal control over financial reporting includes those policies and procedures that (1)
pertain to the maintenance of records that, in reasonable detail, accurately and fairly reflect the
transactions and dispositions of the assets of the company; (2) provide reasonable assurance that
transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in accordance
with generally accepted accounting principles, and that receipts and expenditures of the company
are being made only in accordance with authorizations of management and directors of the
company; and (3) provide reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of
unauthorized acquisition, use, or disposition of the company's assets that could have a material
effect on the financial statements.
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member firm of KPMG International, a Swiss cooperative.