- Initial Statement of Beneficial Ownership (3)

FORM 3	UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION Washington, D.C. 20549 INITIAL STATEMENT OF BENEFICIAL OWNERSHIP OF SECURITIES	OMB APPROVAL OMB Number: 3235-0104 Expires: November 30, 2011 Estimated average burden hours per response... 0.5
	Filed pursuant to Section 16(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, Section 17(a) of the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935 or Section 30(h) of the Investment Company Act of 1940

1. Name and Address of Reporting Person ^*

McCauley Frank G.

2. Date of Event Requiring Statement (MM/DD/YYYY) 3/5/2012

3. Issuer Name and Ticker or Trading Symbol

AETNA INC /PA/ [AET]

(Last) (First) (Middle)

AETNA INC., 151 FARMINGTON AVENUE

4. Relationship of Reporting Person(s) to Issuer (Check all applicable)

_____ Director _____ 10% Owner
___ X ___ Officer (give title below) _____ Other (specify below)
Exec VP, Commercial Businesses /

(Street)

HARTFORD, CT 06156

(City) (State) (Zip)

5. If Amendment, Date Original Filed (MM/DD/YYYY)

6. Individual or Joint/Group Filing (Check Applicable Line)

_ X _ Form filed by One Reporting Person
___ Form filed by More than One Reporting Person

Table I - Non-Derivative Securities Beneficially Owned
1.Title of Security (Instr. 4)	2. Amount of Securities Beneficially Owned (Instr. 4)	3. Ownership Form: Direct (D) or Indirect (I) (Instr. 5)	4. Nature of Indirect Beneficial Ownership (Instr. 5)
Common Stock	3090	D
Common Stock	1632.6259	I	By 401(k) Plan ⁽¹⁾

*Table II - Derivative Securities Beneficially Owned ( e.g.* , puts, calls, warrants, options, convertible securities)**
1. Title of Derivate Security (Instr. 4)	2. Date Exercisable and Expiration Date (MM/DD/YYYY)		3. Title and Amount of Securities Underlying Derivative Security (Instr. 4)		4. Conversion or Exercise Price of Derivative Security	5. Ownership Form of Derivative Security: Direct (D) or Indirect (I) (Instr. 5)	6. Nature of Indirect Beneficial Ownership (Instr. 5)
1. Title of Derivate Security (Instr. 4)	Date Exercisable	Expiration Date	Title	Amount or Number of Shares	4. Conversion or Exercise Price of Derivative Security		6. Nature of Indirect Beneficial Ownership (Instr. 5)
Market Stock Unit	⁽³⁾	⁽³⁾	Common Stock	12768	⁽²⁾	D
Market Stock Unit	⁽⁴⁾	⁽⁴⁾	Common Stock	13238	⁽²⁾	D
Market Stock Unit	⁽⁵⁾	⁽⁵⁾	Common Stock	13099	⁽²⁾	D
Stock Appreciation Right ⁽⁶⁾	2/10/2007	2/10/2016	Common Stock	16952	$50.205	D
Stock Appreciation Right ⁽⁶⁾	2/8/2009	2/8/2018	Common Stock	29915	$50.70	D
Stock Appreciation Right ⁽⁶⁾	2/13/2010	2/13/2019	Common Stock	12989	$32.11	D

Explanation of Responses:
( 1)	Represents the pro rata portion of the stock portion of Aetna Common Stock Fund held by reporting person on February 29, 2012. The information is based on information provided by the Plan Trustee as of that date.
( 2)	Each Market Stock Unit represents a right to receive up to 1.5 shares of Aetna Inc. Common Stock net of taxes. Vesting amount will be determined based on the weighted average closing stock price for the thirty trading days prior to the vest date.
( 3)	Market Stock Unit granted under the Aetna Inc. 2010 Stock Incentive Plan, units will vest on December 7, 2012.
( 4)	Market Stock Unit granted under the Aetna Inc. 2010 Stock Incentive Plan, units will vest on February 2, 2014.
( 5)	Market Stock Unit granted under the Aetna Inc. 2010 Stock Incentive Plan, units will vest on February 2, 2015.
( 6)	Stock Appreciation Right granted under the Aetna Inc. 2000 Stock Incentive Plan.

Reporting Owners
Reporting Owner Name / Address	Relationships
Reporting Owner Name / Address	Director	10% Owner	Officer	Other
McCauley Frank G. AETNA INC. 151 FARMINGTON AVENUE HARTFORD, CT 06156			Exec VP, Commercial Businesses

Signatures
Frank G. McCauley (by Judith H. Jones, Attorney in Fact)		3/7/2012
^** Signature of Reporting Person		Date

Reminder: Report on a separate line for each class of securities beneficially owned directly or indirectly.
*	If the form is filed by more than one reporting person, see Instruction 5(b)(v).
**	Intentional misstatements or omissions of facts constitute Federal Criminal Violations. See 18 U.S.C. 1001 and 15 U.S.C. 78ff(a).
Note:	File three copies of this Form, one of which must be manually signed. If space is insufficient, see Instruction 6 for procedure.
Persons who respond to the collection of information contained in this form are not required to respond unless the form displays a currently valid OMB control number.