Aetna supports National Kidney Registry

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Aetna and the National Kidney Registry Announce Aetna Foundation Grant Award

March 12, 2009

New York , NY – March 12, 2009. Aetna and the National Kidney Registry, a non-profit organization dedicated to improving the lives of people facing kidney failure, have announced that the Aetna Foundation has awarded an initial grant of $50,000 to support the work of the National Kidney Registry helping patients with incompatible donors get kidney transplants through the Registry’s national matching system.

“Aetna is proud to support the National Kidney Registry and its mission to improve the lives of people facing kidney failure,” said Aetna President Mark Bertolini. “As a living donor, and parent of a child whose life was saved by a kidney transplant, I understand the critical need to increase the number of living donor transplants and look forward to continuing our efforts to improve access and affordability for individuals going through the transplant process.”

"We are excited to have Aetna as a partner and look forward to working with Mark and his team to expand our ability to facilitate more life-saving transplants,” said Garet Hil, Founder of the National Kidney Registry. “ Aetna 's leadership in healthcare and support of our mission will help bring the miracle of transplantation to more people suffering from kidney failure."

The National Kidney Registry has already facilitated 28 life-saving transplants over the past 13 months and has the potential to facilitate thousands more while providing better transplant outcomes for patients and reducing health care costs by $55 billion dollars over the next 10 years.

About the Aetna :

Aetna is one of the nation’s leading diversified health care benefits companies, serving approximately 36.5 million people with information and resources to help them make better informed decisions about their health care. Aetna offers a broad range of traditional 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.

About the National Kidney Registry:

The National Kidney Registry is a nonprofit 501(c)3 organization with a mission to save and improve the lives of people facing kidney failure by increasing the quality, speed, and number of living donor transplants in the world.