Letters to the Editor of The ARA News

GUIDELINES

ARA wants to include on this website letters to our newsletter editor which capture the concerns and views of our retirees in their own words. We need to reserve the right to edit letters for items such as length, clarity and appropriateness, and to opt not to post the letter at all.

To have a letter posted the writer needs to include his or her full name and home town (and state), and also valid email address or telephone number for verification purposes. We will generally identify the writer by name and location. However, if requested, initials will be used in place of names.

Letters to the Editor may be sent to the address above, via the Contact Us page, or directly to editor@aetnaretirees.com

ARA does not necessarily endorse or agree with the
ideas and opinions expressed in the letters presented here.

Aetna Message on Planning Contradicted by Actions

ARA Editor:

Aetna was front and center at a Capitol Hill Briefing October 20, urging pre-retirees, especially women, to plan better and save more for health care in retirement. The company, in cooperation with two partners, Financial Planning Association and Women's Policy Inc., cited a new national survey and offered additional planning tools.

All this is important and commendable, but is it not also ironic that Aetna wishes to be seen as helping women plan for good health in retirement at the same time it takes away health benefits from many women who served the company well for many years?

I thought I had done an excellent job of planning for my own health needs in retirement. I worked for a large and respected insurance company that promised, as a part of my compensation package, to provide me with medical and dental insurance in retirement. We were reminded regularly that these benefits were a part of our paycheck, and the Aetna we worked for then kept its promises.

The unilateral elimination of the subsidy on our dental plan was a shock. The company was already eliminating the subsidy for current workers. Is this the beginning of eliminating the subsidy for retirees? While I recognize that companies do have the obligation to remain competitive, this change came at a time when company stock, profits and executive compensation were all sky high, it was difficult to accept or understand. Aetna claimed need but it looked a lot more like greed. And if the new Aetna was willing to walk away from this obligation to us, what might we expect in the future?

The new Aetna may posture in Washington as a model corporate citizen, but we know better. Talk is cheap. Better to look at actions! If the stock in trade of an insurance company is its ability and willingness to keep its promises, Aetna is on shaky ground.

Elaine McDonald

[ Top of This Page ]

ARA Lauded for Its Efforts

ARA Editor:

After reading the recent ARA newsletter I am now more encouraged that our retiree benefits are going to be considered much more carefully by management than before ARA existed. You have given all of us more hope that the company's promises will be kept.

I was also very glad to learn that our association and Aetna are in constant touch regarding future benefit changes. The fact that we are no longer looked on as a "nuisance" is heartening.

"Great job" to all concerned and a huge "Thank you" for all you are doing on our behalf.

Don Nolan

[ Top of This Page ]