Fresenius Medical Care and Aetna Collaborate to Provide Coordinated Care Management for End Stage Renal Disease Patients

Fresenius Medical Care (NYSE: FMS) and Aetna (NYSE: AET) announced today a collaborative care model designed to improve the quality of care for Aetna’s Medicare Advantage members who have end stage renal disease, while lowering health care costs.

Fresenius Medical Care North America’s (FMCNA) nationally-recognized care management program is accredited by the National Committee for Quality Assurance, and creates a new approach for the overall delivery of care focused squarely on the unique needs of dialysis patients. Through this collaboration, Aetna nurse case managers will work closely with FMCNA staff on quality and care management for Aetna Medicare Advantage members who are receiving care at an FMCNA clinic. Aetna and FMCNA will work together to improve the health outcomes of these patients by boosting adherence to best practices and treatment plans.

“We are proud to collaborate with Aetna and deliver the resources and customized therapies necessary to improve the lives of people living with end stage renal disease,” said Ron Kuerbitz, Chief Executive Officer of Fresenius Medical Care North America. “This collaboration embodies a truly integrated approach to serving the full spectrum of health care needs for this vulnerable population.”

“Aetna is committed to helping our Medicare members work with their doctors to improve their quality of life by better managing the conditions contributing to or resulting from chronic kidney disease,” said Robert Mirsky, M.D., Aetna’s chief medical officer for Medicare. “We value our collaboration with Fresenius Medical Care and the complementary capabilities they can provide to improve the care our members receive from them.”

This collaboration builds upon the relationship between Fresenius Medical Care and Aetna, who continue to expand a joint program to identify Aetna Medicare members with chronic kidney disease, and provide education, training and care management designed to ease what can be a difficult transition to dialysis or pre-transplant care.

About Fresenius Medical Care North America

Through its leading network of more than 2,150 dialysis facilities in North America and vascular access centers, laboratory, pharmacy and affiliated hospitals and nephrology practices, Fresenius Medical Care provides renal services to hundreds of thousands of people throughout the United States, Mexico and Canada. It is also the continent's top producer of dialysis equipment, dialyzers and related disposable products and a major supplier of renal pharmaceuticals. For more information about the company, visit www.fmcna.com; for information about patient services, visit www.ultracare-dialysis.com.

About Aetna

Aetna is one of the nation's leading diversified health care benefits companies, serving an estimated 44 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, workers' compensation administrative services and health information technology products and services. Aetna's 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.

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