Aetna (NYSE: AET) and the Aetna Foundation have announced an initial grant of $50,000 to support the work of the National Kidney Registry (NKR), a nonprofit group dedicated to improving the lives of people facing kidney failure by helping patients with incompatible donors receive kidney transplants through the NKR’s national matching system.
Representatives from Aetna and the National Kidney Registry will join with elected officials for a press conference at Aetna’s New York offices on May 8 to formally announce the grant and Aetna’s member communications program.
“Aetna is proud to support the National Kidney Registry and its mission to improve the lives of people facing kidney failure,” said Aetna President Mark Bertolini. “As a living donor and the parent of a child whose life was saved by a kidney transplant, I understand the critical need to increase the number of living donor transplants and look forward to continuing our efforts to improve access and affordability for individuals going through the transplant process.”
“We are excited to have Aetna as a partner and look forward to working with Mark and his team to expand our ability to facilitate more life-saving transplants,” said Garet Hil, Founder and CEO of the National Kidney Registry. “Aetna’s leadership in healthcare and support of our mission will help bring the miracle of transplantation to more people suffering from kidney failure.”
The National Kidney Registry has already facilitated 31 life-saving transplants over the past 14 months including the first ever multi-center six-way swap. The NKR currently has matches identified for 36 additional patients with incompatible donors. Using their national donor and patient database, the NKR has the potential to facilitate thousands of transplants while providing better transplant outcomes for patients and reducing health care costs by $100 billion dollars from transplants facilitated over the next 10 years.
During the May 8 press conference, Aetna will also outline a new plan to provide its members awaiting kidney transplants with information on the resources available through the NKR. Through a multi-pronged communication campaign, Aetna will proactively communicate the availability of the NKR to patients who are being evaluated for a kidney transplant and their doctors. The communications will also provide information on Aetna’s Institutes of Excellence Program™ which provides members with access to accredited transplant facilities and the National Medical Excellence® program which provides clinical oversight from specially trained case managers to ease the transplant process.
About Aetna
Aetna is one of the nation’s leading diversified health care benefits companies, serving approximately 37.2 million people with information and resources to help them make better informed decisions about their health care. For more information, see www.aetna.com.
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