[June 14, 2001 ]

Following is an announcement from Aetna regarding their HMO withdrawal from 11 counties.

Aetna and UC are currently working together to continue these counties through 2002 under UC Care's In-area (referenced below as USAccess). We will keep you apprised of any further developments.

• As previously announced, Aetna has been conducting a strategic review of every aspect of our business, with an eye toward improving our operations, solidifying our competitive position and increasing our profitability.
• One part of this review was a study of our commercial HMO product and market strategy, as well as a review of our competitive position in the marketplace.
• We have notified the California Department of Managed Health Care that we intend to withdraw the Aetna U.S. HealthCare HMO based products (including US Access) from 11 counties in the California Central Valley. These counties are El Dorado, Fresno, Kings, Madera, Merced, Napa, Placer, Sacramento, Tulare, Tuolumne and Yolo.
• Please note that Aetna U.S. Healthcare is currently working with the University of California Office of the President to determine the date the withdrawal will be effective for the UC employees and dependents.
• UC membership is specifically impacted as follows:
  El Dorado – 102
  Fresno – 109
  Kings – 3
  Madera – 6
  Merced –42
  Napa – 36
  Placer – 234
  Sacramento – 1,326
  Tulare – 85
  Tuolumne – 45
  Yolo – 2,315 Total – 4,303
• In addition, we intend to withdraw our HMO products from 12 rural zip codes in California in the Blythe area along the Colorado River in Riverside and San Bernardino counties. They are: 92364 – Nipton
  92363 – Needles
  92267 – Parker Dam
  92242 – Earp
  92323 – Cima
  92309 – Baker
  92303 – Amboy, Cadiz
  92280 – Vidal, Rice
  92332 – Essex
  92239 – Desert Center
  92225 - 92226 – Blythe, Mesa Verde
• Approximately 44,000 Aetna HMO members will be impacted in the state of California.
• Aetna is announcing this decision now in order to give members and their employers time to select new health plans that meet their needs. HIPAA-required notifications will be sent to customers, brokers and members by June 30, 2001. Should Aetna U.S. Healthcare maintain the above counties for UC members Aetna will not issue HIPPA certificates to UC members.
• It is important to note that we are withdrawing only from our commercial HMO-based products in the affected service areas. Impacted members will be offered new products as their coverage comes up for renewal. Aetna will continue to offer Open Choice® (Indemnity PPO), Traditional Choice® (Indemnity), Managed Choice® (Indemnity Point of Service).
• California remains a very important market for Aetna. We currently provide health care coverage to about 1.8 million California residents through a full spectrum of HMO, PPO and indemnity products. With more than 830,000 California HMO members, our HMO product remains strong and we will continue to offer the product across a large area of the state.
• The service center expects these product withdrawals to have a very minimal effect on staffing levels. However, dependent on business, some jobs at the service center and in other functional areas may be impacted. We hope to minimize any impact to Aetna's employees through transfers and attrition.

• The information presented in these news archive articles may no longer be current. Please note the date when the article was first published.