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Aetna Grants $107,000 to St. Louis Area Nonprofits in 2009

CHESTERFIELD, Mo.–(Business Wire)–
Aetna (NYSE: AET) and the Aetna Foundation in 2009 awarded community grants and
sponsorships in the St. Louis area totaling $107,000, with a particular focus on
disease prevention, obesity and health screening.

The contributions support Aetna`s commitment to enhancing the quality of health
care, and promoting racial and ethnic equity in health and health care. In
total, the Aetna Foundation, Aetna and its employees awarded more than $24
million nationally in 2009.

The six St. Louis-area grant recipients were:

* Herbert Hoover Boys & Girls Club of St. Louis, Inc.;
* Interfaith Partnership/Faith Beyond Walls;
* Kids in the Middle, Inc.;
* Ronald McDonald House Charities of Metro St. Louis;
* St. Louis Children`s Hospital Foundation; and
* YMCA of Greater St. Louis.

“Aetna is proud to support organizations in St. Louis which are making great
strides in targeting health care issues that affect our communities,” said Scott
Nilsen, Aetna`s St. Louis-area market head. “As a responsible corporate citizen,
we recognize our obligation to help address these critical needs.”

The largest of those awards were two $30,000 gifts — one to St. Louis
Children`s Hospital Foundation for its 26th Annual St. Louis Children’s Hospital
Day at Six Flags and the other to the Herbert Hoover Boys & Girls Clubs of St.
Louis for its Triple Play PLUS obesity prevention program.

“Aetna and the Aetna Foundation are proud to partner with organizations across
the country in support of their good work, and we look forward to continued
relationships as we focus our giving in key areas going forward,” said Anne
Beal, MD, MPH, president of the Aetna Foundation. “For 2010 and beyond, we are
transitioning to a new approach that encompasses a more concentrated
grant-making focus on specific health issues of national concern, enhanced
communication and measurement of the impact of our grants, a more proportionate
distribution of our charitable giving across the country, and a more holistic
relationship with our community partners that capitalizes on our employee
presence and the generosity and talents of our employee volunteers.”

The Aetna Foundation has opened the call for proposals for the 2010 grant cycle.
Grant applicants should visit www.AetnaFoundation.org for more information on
how to apply for a grant and to learn more about the following Aetna Foundation
focus areas for grant making in 2010 and beyond:

* Addressing the rising incidence of obesity among U.S. residents, including
children;
* Promoting racial and ethnic equity in health and health care for common
chronic conditions and for the prevention of infant mortality; and
* Advancing integrated health care, by:

* Improving coordination and communications among health care professionals;
* Creating informed and involved patients; and
* Promoting cost-effective, affordable care.

About the Aetna Foundation

The Aetna Foundation is the independent charitable and philanthropic arm of
Aetna Inc. Since 1980, Aetna and the Aetna Foundation have contributed over $379
million in grants and sponsorships. As a national health foundation, we promote
wellness, health, and access to high-quality health care for everyone. This work
is enhanced by the time and commitment of Aetna employees, who have volunteered
nearly 2 million hours since 2003. Our current giving is focused on addressing
the rising rate of adult and childhood obesity in the U.S.; promoting racial and
ethnic equity in health and health care; and advancing integrated health care.
For more information, visit www.AetnaFoundation.org.

About Aetna

Aetna is one of the nation`s leading diversified health care benefits companies,
serving approximately 36.1 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.
For more information, see www.aetna.com and Aetna`s annual report at
www.aetna.com/2009annualreport

Media Contact:
Aetna
Scot Roskelley, 312-928-3034
roskelleye@aetna.com

UCLA economist blames Hoover’s pro-labour policies for Great Depression

Washington, Aug 30 (ANI): A University of California, Los Angeles economist has blamed former US President Herbert Hoover’s pro-labour policies for Great Depression in 1929.

“These findings suggest that the recession was three times worse – at a minimum – than it would otherwise have been, because of Hoover,” said Lee E. Ohanian, a UCLA professor of economics.

The policies, which included both propping up wages and encouraging job-sharing, also accounted for more than two-thirds of the precipitous decline in hours worked in the manufacturing sector, which was much harder hit initially than the agricultural sector.

“By keeping industrial wages too high, Hoover sharply depressed employment beyond where it otherwise would have been, and that act drove down the overall gross national product,” said Ohanian.

“His policy was the single most important event in precipitating the Great Depression,” he added.

According to Ohanian, Hoover was concerned about two potential crises. He was afraid the stock market collapse of October 1929 would result in a recession with deflation, leading to dramatic wage cuts, as a period of deflation had done just a decade earlier.

And because of a series of recent legislative and court decisions that had expanded the power of organized labour, he also worried about the possibility of crippling strikes if such wage cuts were to come to pass.

“Hoover had the idea that if wages were kept high for workers and they shared jobs instead of being laid off, they would be able to buy more goods and services, which would help the economy improve,” Ohanian added.

After the crash, Hoover met with major leaders of industry and cut a deal with them to either maintain or raise wages and institute job-sharing to keep workers employed, at least to some degree. In response, General Motors, Ford, U.S. Steel, Dupont, International Harvester and many other large firms fell in line, even publicly underscoring their compliance with Hoover’s program.

Designed to placate labour and safeguard workers’ buying power, the step had an unintended effect. As deflation eventually did set in, the inflation-adjusted value of these wages rose over time, effectively giving workers a raise precisely at the time when companies were least in a position to afford such increases and precisely when productivity was beginning to fall.

“The wage freeze effectively raised the cost of labour and, by extension, production,” Ohanian said.

“If you artificially raise the price of production, your costs go way up and you pass them on to the customers, and they buy that much less,” he added.

Reluctant to lower wages due to Hoover’s entreaties, employers in the manufacturing sector responded by reducing the workweek and laying off workers. By September 1931, the manufacturing sector was already hurting: Hours clocked by workers had fallen by 20 percent and employment by 35 percent.

Overall, the economy suffered, with the GDP falling by 27 percent.

“The Depression was the first time in the history of the U.S. that wages did not fall during a period of significant deflation,” Ohanian said.

“In late 1931, industry finally did cut wages, but it was too late. By this point, the economy was in an unprecedented, full-blown depression,” he added.

The findings are slated to appear in the December issue of the peer-reviewed Journal of Economic Theory. (ANI)

Aetna Grants $107,000 to St. Louis Area Nonprofits in 2009

UCLA economist blames Hoover’s pro-labour policies for Great Depression

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