BLUE CROSS HAS FEW TAKERS ON SMALL-BUSINESS POLICIES

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, February 5, 1992                   TAG: 9202050148
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: C7   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: RICHMOND                                LENGTH: Short
BLUE CROSS HAS FEW TAKERS ON SMALL-BUSINESS POLICIES
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Virginia said it has signed up only 25 companies for its new, cheaper policy for small businesses.
The policy, First Option, doesn't include many mandated coverages that group health insurance policies typically must carry. Rather, it provides basic health insurance with about a 30 percent saving off traditional policies.
The General Assembly approved the idea in 1990, with the intent that it would make group insurance more affordable to small businesses, thus allowing more Virginians to get health insurance.
"The whole idea behind this is to bring coverage to those who have none," said Jim Goss, a Blue Cross spokesman. "Our only hope is that it would have sold more."
Blue Cross and Blue Shield surveyed businesses to determine why companies weren't buying the policy and found they couldn't afford to pay for insurance coverage at all or they had problems with a restriction limiting the policy to companies that had been without group insurance benefits for at least 12 months.
A bill in the General Assembly would remove the 12-month mandate.

by Bhavesh Jinadra by CNB