Aetna : Allina Health and Aetna Agree to Establish New Partnership in Minnesota

Minneapolis-St. Paul -- Allina Health and Aetna (NYSE: AET) today announced the creation of a jointly owned health plan company, Allina Health and Aetna Insurance Company, which will provide an innovative health care option for employers and consumers in the greater Minneapolis-St. Paul area.

This jointly owned health plan fully aligns the incentives and capabilities of a national insurer and major local health system in ways that will lead to improved health outcomes and cost management. By sharing ownership and accountability, the new plan will streamline the patient experience by combining the power of insurer and provider data, coordinating integrated care teams and providing health insurance benefits and administrative services.

'Allina Health has been on a journey of transforming our patient care strategies to focus on outcomes rather than volume of services,' explained Penny Wheeler, MD, President and CEO of Allina Health. 'Provider-payer relationships already exist in Minnesota, and with Aetna, we have found a strong national partner who shares our vision of health, wellness and person-centered care. This partnership represents the opportunity to greatly accelerate our progress toward a care model where our success is more closely tied to our patient's health, rather than just the delivery of services.'

Allina Health and Aetna Insurance Company anticipates offering a number of fully insured and self-insured commercial products starting in early 2018, with Medicare and other products to follow, pending regulatory approval. More details on product offerings will be available in the coming months.

The two organizations will work together to develop innovative approaches to care management such as ensuring patients have more streamlined connections to their health care providers and insurer, and using advanced clinical data analytics and community-based care teams to help members better manage chronic conditions.

'Allina Health is a key partner in Aetna's effort to rethink, reimagine and redefine the health care system to reward value more than volume,' said Brigitte Nettesheim, Aetna's president of transformative markets. 'We aim to transform health care in the U.S., and we firmly believe that this new company will create better outcomes and healthier days for Minnesotans.'

'This is a partnership, not a merger, and the new company will have its own leadership team,' explained Dr. Wheeler. 'We believe this partnership presents a unique opportunity to get our remarkable care teams further upstream to achieve better health outcomes and cost management for both patients and others who pay for care.'

Named the most 'transformational' company by a KLAS study, Aetna has a proven track record of success in delivering innovative, value-based care. Aetna projects to have at least 75 percent of its claim payments in value-based models by 2020.

Allina Health's comprehensive networks of primary and specialty care providers are affiliated with nationally recognized service lines like the Virginia Piper Cancer Institute, the Minneapolis Heart Institute®, Courage Kenny Rehabilitation Institute and the Penny George Institute for Health and Healing.

About Aetna

Aetna is one of the nation's leading diversified health care benefits companies, serving an estimated 46.7 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 http://www.aetna.com/ and learn about how Aetna is helping to build a healthier world. @AetnaNews

About Allina Health

Allina Health is dedicated to the prevention and treatment of illness and enhancing the greater health of individuals, families and communities throughout Minnesota and western Wisconsin. Allina Health is the largest integrated health care delivery system in Minnesota and has been named a Top Five Large U.S. Health System by Truven Analytics. A not-for-profit health care system, Allina Health cares for patients from beginning to end-of-life through its 90+ clinics, 13 hospitals, 14 retail pharmacies, specialty care centers and specialty medical services, home care, senior transitions, hospice care, home oxygen and medical equipment and emergency medical transportation services.

For more information, visit us at allinahealth.org, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube or Healthy Set Go.