HMO Bashing

Aetna Inc. is striking back at bashers of health maintenance organizations wi newspapers around the country. The ads, for which Aetna paid $10,000, feature the signatures of employees who are demanding an end to "unjustified and uninformed attacks on the managed care industry." "Bashing HMOs seems to be the favorite indoor sport of the country now that basketball is out," Aetna Chairman and Chief Executive Richard Huber said Monday. "Our people feel angry." Donna Otten, an Aetna claims manager from Bolton, said she was happy to join the effort. "It frustrates me. I am also a customer, and my experience has not been what I heard," Otten said. "They're taking a bloodbath on this, and I think that's unfortunate, because they serve the needs of the public." HMOs have been an issue in many political races in Connecticut and around the country. Gubernatorial candidate Democrat U.S. Rep. Barbara Kennelly has pledged to pass stricter regulations on the industry if she is elected. Her opponent, Republican Gov. John G. Rowland, is touting laws that passed during his first term, including a health plan for poor children and a ban on drive-through mastectomies. A key issue in the re-election bid of U.S. Rep. Sam Gejdenson, a Democrat, is some HMOs cancellation of Medicare policies in eastern Connecticut. "Everybody who's running for office is running against the HMOs," said Hal Mark, an assistant professor at the University of Connecticut Health Center in Farmington. The newspaper ads noted that Aetna U.S. Healthcare has spent more than $23 billion in the past year on 35 million doctor visits, 4.6 million immunizations and 1.2 million mammograms. The ads appear to be part of a broader effort by insurance industry to improve its image by showing the good things HMOs do, said Larry Levitt, director of the changing health care marketplace project at the Kaiser Family Foundation in Menlo Park, Calif. In September, Aetna launched a campaign featuring testimonials from health plan members who battled serious medical problems. A coalition of health insurance companies also announced last month they would spend $18 million over the next few years to boost the industry's image.