Aetna International Establishes Innovation Hub for Asia

The Innovation Hub will focus on leveraging local expertise and customer feedback to develop tailored solutions for Asian markets, based on Aetna’s existing global product offerings.

Singapore, November 30, 2016 — Aetna International (www.aetnainternational.com), the leading health care insurer, is establishing an Innovation Hub for Asia, based in Singapore.

Specifically aimed at local healthcare market needs in regional markets including Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Philippines, Malaysia, China, Hong Kong and Singapore, the bespoke solutions developed by the Innovation Hub will allow Aetna to offer greater value and service to the local populations, which in turn, is expected to increase awareness of its products and expand its footprint in the region.

The Hub will create an end-to-end product development capability for Aetna in the region, allowing it to develop and distribute products more effectively and bring them to market more quickly, enhancing its capabilities as a full-service healthcare insurer in Asia.

In line with the company’s mission to build a healthier world, this will allow faster access to better healthcare solutions for more people in Asia than ever before.

According to Derek Goldberg, Aetna’s Managing Director for Southeast Asia and Hong Kong, “the significant investment that the group is making in developing the core team at the Innovation Hub demonstrates Aetna’s ongoing commitment to expanding its presence in the Asia Pacific region, with a focus on building region-specific products.”

Ran Wang, Aetna’s Regional Product Manager for Southeast Asia and Hong Kong and a core member of the Innovation Hub team, said: “The Innovation Hub will help us translate Aetna’s vast healthcare expertise to markets in Asia and increase our reaction time to market developments in the region, making us more responsive to our clients’ needs.”

“The unique products that we will be able to offer will combine tailor-made medical plans with health management services, because we do not believe that ‘one size fits all’ when it comes to supporting our members’ health.”

James Pisko, an actuary previously based in Aetna’s Hartford, Connecticut head office, recently relocated to Singapore to join the Innovation Hub team.

He said: “Developing an actuarial presence in the APAC market will help improve our analytical capabilities, allowing us to drive profitable growth and explore strategic initiatives. Additionally, this will better facilitate the transfer of knowledge from Aetna’s corporate actuarial Hub to the local teams to execute timely and accurate business decisions.”

Aetna’s new initiative follows the awards it has recently won in Asia, for the first time this year. It was awarded ‘New Insurance Product of the Year’ at the inaugural Insurance Asia Awards this year and was also runner up for ‘Employee Benefits and Services Provider of the Year’ organised by the Forum for Expatriate Management.

About Aetna International 

Aetna International is committed to helping create a stronger, healthier global community by delivering comprehensive health care benefits and population health solutions worldwide. One of the largest providers of international private medical insurance, Aetna International serves more than 700,000 members worldwide, including expatriates, local nationals and business travellers. Its global benefits include medical, dental, vision and emergency assistance services. Aetna International also offers customised technological and health management solutions for health care systems, government entities and large employers to improve people’s health, enhance quality of care and contain costs. For more information, see www.aetnainternational.com.

About Aetna 
Aetna is one of the leading diversified health care benefits companies in the United States, serving an estimated 46.5 million people with information and resources to help them make betterinformed 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, behavioural health, 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, labour groups and expatriates. For more information, see www.aetna.com and learn about how Aetna is helping to build a healthier world.

For more information about this release, contact:

Helix Media Pte Ltd.
Media consultants to Aetna International (Singapore)
Edward Ion (Edward.ion@helixmedia.asia) | Mobile: +65 9111 6871
Valerie Lim (Valerie.lim@helixmedia.asia) | Mobile: +65 9755 3636