Here is Aetna’s mission statement.

Why we exist: The Aetna mission

Aetna is dedicated to helping people achieve health and financial security by providing easy access to safe, cost-effective, high-quality health care and protecting their finances against health-related risks.

Building on our 158-year heritage, Aetna will be a leader cooperating with doctors and hospitals, employers, patients, public officials and others to build a stronger, more effective health care system.

Our values

Everything we do at Aetna starts with our values — a clear, strongly held set of core beliefs that reflect who we are and what you can expect from us. We created our core values together, as one company with more than 30,000 individual voices, and with guidance from our customers. Our values carry through our thoughts and actions every day, inspire innovation in our products and services, and drive our commitment to excellence in all we do.

– Chairman, CEO and President Mark Bertolini

source: Aetna Mission and Values — Aetna.

Sounds great? What he says about the fiscal cliff: (from MarketWatch):

WASHINGTON–Aetna Inc. Chief Executive Mark Bertolini, who is among a dozen chief executives meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama later this week, on Monday warned that companies are preparing backup plans that include layoffs if the White House and congressional leaders are unable to reach a deal to avoid the combination of tax increases and spending cuts known as the “fiscal cliff.”

“The American people are going to suffer because we’ll lay them off–because we know how to respond to these kinds of situations,” Mr. Bertolini warned at a Wall Street Journal CEO Council event.

How to respond is massive layoffs. Not cost cuts. Salary negotiations with workers. Price changes for products. Layoffs. I wonder if these are values 30000 individual voices hold too.

They are pressuring congressman to deal because they are confident a deal now will result in a better tax deal for them.