Aetna Issues First Prescription From New Mail-Order Pharmacy

Aetna's second mail-order pharmacy will be able to fill 20 millionprescriptions annually and will employ more than 800 people in theBroward County region within the next three years. The pharmacy wasbuilt to accommodate the tremendous growth of Aetna PharmacyManagement, Aetna's pharmacy benefits management unit, and Aetna RxHome Delivery, the health care benefits company's mail-orderprescription delivery operation. The company's first mail-orderfacility outside of Kansas City, Mo., is running at near fullcapacity.

"The delivery of our first prescriptions from the new facility isa special milestone for us," said Eric Elliott, head of Aetna PharmacyManagement. "With the advent of the Medicare drug plan and the growthof our home delivery pharmacy, the start-up of the Florida pharmacyrepresents the continuation of Aetna's strategy for deliveringworld-class mail-order prescription service."

The pharmacy, housed in a 114,000-square-foot building in thePompano Business Center, will be the regional headquarters for AetnaRx Home Delivery's mail-order distribution operation and its nationalmail-order customer service call center. Additionally, the expandedcapacity will help Aetna to support several new business initiatives,like the 2006 Medicare drug benefit expansion. In late September,Aetna was approved as a national provider of the new Medicareprescription drug plan.

Aetna has been actively recruiting and hiring for a variety ofpositions in the new pharmacy, including:

-- order entry technicians

-- physician call technicians

-- member call technicians

-- accounts receivable and billing technicians

-- shipping and packing clerks

-- automation repair technicians

-- call center representatives

-- telemarketing representatives

-- pharmacists

"This new pharmacy is a first-rate operation, and we are verypleased and excited about it," said Aaron Crosson Sr., head of AetnaRx Home Delivery. "With this new facility, we will be positioningourselves to better serve our members and providers, while alsoproviding a host of job opportunities for the region."

Mail-order business continues rapid expansion

Aetna launched its mail-order delivery business in February 2003,by purchasing a facility located in Kansas City from Eckerd HealthServices. At the business launch, Aetna Rx Home Delivery was filling67,000 prescriptions per month. The mail-order operation is nowfilling more than 600,000 prescriptions monthly, a nearly nine-foldincrease.

The Pompano Beach site was chosen following a national search.Factors leading to the decision include the fact that Florida has fourwell-respected pharmaceutical schools that should serve to provide apipeline of highly qualified and trained workers. In addition, Aetnahas more than one million health members and more than 800,000pharmacy benefit members in Florida and the proximity will help reduceshipping time to those members.

Second facility serving Aetna members in Florida in the past year

Aetna and Priority Healthcare Corp. announced last spring thattheir joint venture, Aetna Specialty Pharmacy, opened a63,000-square-foot distribution center in Orlando, Fla., just west ofOrlando International Airport. On October 26, 2005, Aetna thenannounced its intention to purchase Priority Healthcare's stake in thejoint venture, which is expected to be completed by the first quarterof 2006, pending federal antitrust regulatory approval.

The specialty pharmacy features a state-of-the-art compoundingsetting and an automated fulfillment system that provides efficientpreparation and delivery of these specialty medications. The Orlandodistribution center, which provides member support 24 hours a day, 7days a week by pharmacists, registered nurses and patient carecoordinators, has been distributing specialty pharmaceuticals andbiomedical therapies for the chronically ill since March of this year.Aetna Specialty Pharmacy will have approximately 280 employees in thenew specialty pharmacy by year end.

As one of the nation's leading providers of health care, dental,pharmacy, group life, disability and long-term care benefits, Aetnaputs information and helpful resources to work for its approximately14.65 million medical members, 13.03 million dental members, 9.34million pharmacy members and 13.68 million group insurance members tohelp them make better informed decisions about their health care andprotect their finances against health-related risks. Aetna provideseasy access to cost-effective health care through a nationwide networkof more than 700,000 health care professionals, including over 418,000primary care and specialist doctors and 4,231 hospitals. For moreinformation, please visit. (Figures as of September 30, 2005)