Aetna Announces Support for Rolling Thunder XXIV

HARTFORD, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Aetna (NYSE: AET ) announced a major sponsorship of Rolling Thunder XXIV, which benefits Rolling Thunder® Charities Inc. Rolling Thunder is an annual event held the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend that recognizes the sacrifices veterans have made for our country, including Prisoners of War and those still Missing in Action. Aetna will present the sponsorship to Rolling Thunder during festivities May 29 in Washington, D.C. This year marks the third consecutive year Aetna has sponsored the event.

“Aetna is proud again this year to support Rolling Thunder and the veterans they help through their charitable and volunteer work,” said Aetna Chairman, CEO and President Mark T. Bertolini. “Each Memorial Day weekend, the Rolling Thunder demonstration serves as a reminder of the contributions our veterans make for this country.”

Rolling Thunder® Charities Inc. is a non-profit organization created in 2007 to address the needs of veterans, active troops and their families. A national organization, Rolling Thunder is comprised of more than 100 chapters nationwide that work tirelessly to increase awareness of veteran’s issues and support legislative efforts to help veterans. The organization also spends hundreds of thousands of dollars each year in financial aid, food, clothing and other essentials to veterans, homeless veterans and veterans' families in need.

“Rolling Thunder is very grateful to Aetna and Mark Bertolini for their continued support of our efforts,” said Artie Muller, executive director and founder of Rolling Thunder Inc. “We look forward to working together on behalf of veterans and their families.”

Aetna is involved in efforts in several markets to aid organizations that benefit U.S. military veterans. Each year since 2000, for example, Aetna has been the title sponsor of the Connecticut Veterans Day Parade in Hartford, Conn. “AetVets,” the Aetna Veterans Employee Resource Group, also participates in several other activities designed to assist veterans and their families. The group has more than 130 employee members who represent all branches of the U.S. military.

Earlier this year, Aetna Behavioral Health announced its support for Give an Hour™, a non-profit organization providing free counseling and other mental health services to members of the military. Aetna Behavioral Health will actively recruit volunteers from its network of over 104,000 behavioral health providers across the United States, helping Give an Hour increase the number of practitioners providing free counseling to the military community. Aetna’s own employees who are clinicians in Aetna Behavioral Health or the Employee Assistance Program (EAP) also will volunteer their time.

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. To learn more about Aetna’s innovative online tools, visit www.aetnatools.com.