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Aetna's chief executive, Dr. John W. Rowe, has made addressing disparities in health care a major initiative for the Hartford, Conn.-based insurer, which has about 13.7 million members.
Hence, Aetna has started asking HMO members in 13 states, including Connecticut, New York and Massachusetts, to reveal their racial and ethnic heritage, the Hartford Courant reports.
Aetna says it intends to use the information to design new programs and outreach efforts addressing health problems that are more prevalent in certain minority groups, and to improve their access to care.
Studies show that African Americans, Hispanics, Asians and other minority-group members do not receive the same level of health care as other Americans, the Courant notes. As a result of later diagnosis and less aggressive treatment, members of minority groups often have poorer outcomes and higher mortality.
Previously, Aetna already was asking all of its pregnant members for their race, so the company could offer black women a program aimed at preventing premature labor. They have a higher incidence of pre-term labor than whites, and the problem can result in babies of low birth weight, which leads to a variety of health problems.
Still, Aetna's latest identification effort has its critics, however, particularly among privacy advocates.
Gretchen Vivier, director of the Health Care for All Coalition in Connecticut, told the Courant that without adequate safeguards against abuse of the information, it "could be potentially dangerous."
Aetna officials say state laws and adherence to federal privacy rules ensure it will use racial and ethnic identity appropriately. Aetna, which hopes to ask the question in nearly all other states by the end of the year, notes that members' response is strictly voluntary.
According to the Courant, Aetna tells members on its enrollment forms that the information won't be used to affect their eligibility, rates or claims payments, but will be used for research and program development. The effort, Aetna executives say, will improve members' quality of life and the company's business.
"Having these kinds of programs is doing the right thing," says Dr. William C. Popik, senior vice president and chief medical officer. "If you can get people the right interventions . . . in the long run, health care costs come down; they don't go up."
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