Award-Winning Aetna ValuePassSM Provides Consumers Access to “Pay as You Go” Affordable Dental Care

Aetna ValuePass^SM Card Named Judges’ Choice Winner in 7^th Annual Paybefore Awards

• A unique, patent-pending innovation to help individuals purchase only the dental care they need, when they need it
• Offers access to savings of 15% – 50% per visit from credentialed dental providers
• Provides access for 132 million Americans without dental insurance

HARTFORD, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aetna (NYSE: AET) today announced that the Aetna ValuePass^SM was named the 2013 Judges’ Choice award winner by Paybefore Awards at this year’s Prepaid Expo in Orlando, Florida. Judges’ Choice is a category created by the judges to recognize programs that demonstrate an innovative approach to prepaid solutions and show strong growth opportunity. The Aetna ValuePass^SM empowers consumers to manage their dental care by allowing them to prepay for discounted services and receive care when needed. Aetna is the first health care company to offer a prepaid card that gives consumers access to affordable, quality dental care with no insurance plan or membership fee required.

“The Aetna ValuePassSM, a pay as you go offering, brings together dental care and prepaid technology in a unique way to help provide affordable care to the millions of Americans without dental insurance or to those who have limited coverage.”

“We are honored to have the Aetna ValuePass^SM card recognized by Paybefore Awards, the most prestigious award of excellence in the prepaid industry,” said Marcia Vannuccini, head of Aetna Prepaid Card Solutions. “The Aetna ValuePass^SM, a pay as you go offering, brings together dental care and prepaid technology in a unique way to help provide affordable care to the millions of Americans without dental insurance or to those who have limited coverage.”

Choice, Savings and Convenience

Purchased online, the Aetna ValuePass^SM gives consumers access to discounted dental care through Aetna’s extensive network of dentists. Most importantly, this MasterCard^® branded prepaid card allows consumers to purchase only the amount of care they need. Aetna ValuePass^SM users receive:

• Choice – Available to use whenever the consumer chooses; funds loaded onto the re-loadable card never expire.
• Savings – Discounts on any dental procedure, including orthodontia and cosmetic dentistry such as teeth whitening.
• Convenience – No claims, referrals or waiting for reimbursement.
• Security – The card is built with security measures to protect against unauthorized use if lost or stolen.

“I am proud to be a Paybefore Awards judge because they honor the companies and individuals that are at the forefront of innovation,” said Lori Breitzke, founder and president, E&S Consulting LLC. “We recognized the Aetna ValuePass^SM as a Judges’ Choice winner for its use of prepaid as an alternative way to access dental care that provides consumers with choice, savings and convenience.”

Who Can Benefit from Aetna’s ValuePass^SM?

The ValuePass^SM card allows consumers to build dental coverage that meets their unique needs. This offering is of particular interest to:

• Individual purchasers of health care.
• The uninsured and underinsured.
• Retirees.
• Part-time workers.

The ValuePass^SM also benefits employers. The card provides them a way to offer their employees access to affordable dental care with virtually no investment and almost no administrative costs. Employers have the flexibility to fund all or a portion of the card’s value as a voluntary, supplemental or defined contribution offering.

Aetna has contracted with three strategic partners to bring the ValuePass^SM to consumers. Convergence Health, Store Financial and UMB Healthcare Services assist in providing the ecommerce web portal, card processing and banking.

To learn more, the innovation is available at: www.aetnavaluepass.com.

About Aetna

Aetna is one of the nation's leading diversified health care benefits companies, serving approximately 37.3 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, Medicaid health care management services and health information technology services. Our customers include employer groups, individuals, college students, part-time and hourly workers, health plans, health care providers, governmental units, government-sponsored plans, labor groups and expatriates. For more information, see www.aetna.com.