Aetna, Athens Regional Medical Center Sign Contract

ATHENS, Ga.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aetna (NYSE: AET) and Athens Regional Medical Center announced that they have reached agreement on a new two-year contract, expanding network access for Aetna members in Georgia. With this agreement, members of Aetna commercial plans can receive covered benefits, at in-network rates, from Athens Regional Medical Center.

“Our members in the Athens area will benefit from the broad range of services the hospital offers.”

“Aetna is very happy to add Athens Regional Medical Center to its network of contracted hospitals,” said Cary Goldenthal, Aetna’s vice president of network operations for the Georgia market. “Our members in the Athens area will benefit from the broad range of services the hospital offers.”

“By joining with Aetna, Athens Regional Medical Center’s has expanded hospital and group health insurance choices for residents of the Athens-Clarke County community and other surrounding counties,” said Paul Collar, director of managed care at Athens Regional Medical Center. “It is our mission to provide the patients and physicians we serve with better access to quality patient care and a scope of services that are of superior value. We feel we have accomplished that with this agreement.”

Aetna provides health benefits to more than 500,000 members in Georgia. With this agreement, Aetna now contracts with 164 of the state’s 168 acute-care hospitals in the state, as well as more than 15,000 primary care and specialist physicians.

About Athens Regional Medical Center

Athens Regional Medical Center is a 360-plus bed, full service regional referral center and is part of Athens Regional Health Services, an integrated system that provides for the healthcare needs of a 17-county service area in Northeast Georgia.

Athens Regional features nationally acclaimed, comprehensive cardiac, vascular and thoracic procedures including open heart surgery; cardiac catheterization and vascular labs; a full spectrum of advanced surgical procedures; minimally invasive surgeries; a neurosurgery unit; a stroke center; a free-standing outpatient radiology center and outpatient surgery center; adult and children’s rehabilitation services; diagnostic and therapeutic oncology; Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and PET/CT Scanner; a neonatal intensive care unit, the Loran Smith Center for Cancer Support, and the Breast Health Center.

About Aetna

Aetna is one of the nation’s leading diversified health care benefits companies, serving approximately 33.8 million people with information and resources to help them make better informed decisions about their health care. Aetna offers a broad range of traditional, voluntary 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. For more information, see www.aetna.com.