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

DATE: TUESDAY, August 30, 1994                   TAG: 9410120017
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: C8   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: RICHMOND                                 LENGTH: Short

TRIGON: RATES ROSE ONLY 0.1%

The state's largest health insurer, whose billing practices are under investigation, said Monday that premiums through June rose less than 1 percent from the first half of last year.

Trigon, formerly Blue Cross-Blue Shield of Virginia, said the average fully insured group premium went up 0.1 percent compared with the first six months of 1993.

The company has been trying to hold the line on premium increases, which until last year had been in the double digits. They increased 7.5 percent in 1993.

In 1989, Trigon's premiums for group customers rose nearly 27 percent from the previous year and went up 23 percent in 1990 and 1991.

State Attorney General Jim Gilmore and the State Bureau of Insurance began investigating Trigon's billing activities following allegations that Trigon negotiated discounts with hospitals without passing on savings to policyholders.

- Associated Press

by CNB