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

DATE: THURSDAY, June 10, 1993                   TAG: 9306090333
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: B8   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: MAG POFF STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

VIRGINIA BLUES HAS ITS NEW NAME

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Virginia said Wednesday it will change its name to Trigon Mutual Insurance Co. in September.

The company's flagship health insurance business in Virginia - including the name on its office building in downtown Roanoke - will be Trigon Mutual Blue Cross Blue Shield.

All its insurance policies will remain in force as the public begins to see the name change in the fall. The change will not affect costs or coverage for any of the 1.8 million health insurance and employee benefit customers in Virginia, the company said.

Customers can continue to use existing Blue Cross and Blue Shield identification cards and other printed material. Existing materials will be phased out over the next year, and replacements with the new name will be issued as policies are renewed, the company said.

Virginia Blues Chairman Norwood Davis said adoption of the Trigon name reflects the company's corporate structure as a mutual insurance company and recognizes its expansion into new markets, outside Virginia.

Davis said the word trigon stands for a three-sided figure with applications in medicine, mathematics and music as a sign of strength.

The company's logo, however, will continue to use the traditional blue cross and shield, signifying the company will remain a member of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, an organization of 72 independent Blue Cross and Blue Shield companies.

The Trigon group of companies operates in 33 states, the District of Columbia and the United Kingdom. Most will retain their names but with the notation that they are "a Trigon company."

"This step marks our evolution from a prepaid health insurer to a mutual insurance company offering health-care financing and management, employee benefits products, and information technologies," Davis said.

"The Trigon name also provides a distinctive identity that differentiates our organization from other Blue Cross and Blue Shield companies," Davis added. He said Trigon Mutual will receive the rating of AA-, or excellent, which was affirmed in April by Standard & Poor's Ratings Group for Virginia Blue Cross and Blue Shield.

by CNB