Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, October 7, 1994 TAG: 9410070014
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MAG POFF STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
That number does not represent all those who may be eligible for partial refunds of co-payments, said company spokesman James Goss. He said the health insurance company does not have all of the names of people who may be due refunds.
So Trigon is advertising in newspapers statewide, including the Roanoke Times & World-News, asking customers to phone a toll-free number if they think they are eligible. The number is (800)422-4662. The telephones are staffed around the clock.
Through midnight Wednesday, the company had fielded 21,443 calls in response to the ads.
After a state investigation, Trigon said it will refund the difference between the amounts hospitals actually charged under negotiated discounts and the bills used to calculate policyholders' shares of the bills.
Under the system Trigon had used since 1984, it showed the gross amount of the hospital bill on financial statements to its customers, not the discounted amount it actually paid. Subscribers paid co-insurance on the undiscounted price. The company contends the undisclosed discounts enabled it to hold down its insurance rates.
Goss said many of the callers do not understand they will get the difference in the amount of the co-insurance between the gross bill and the discounted bill, not the entire amount they paid. The money will be refunded to the Blue Cross subscriber, not the patient.
The refunds apply only to bills from hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, home health agencies, psychiatric and substance abuse centers and ambulatory surgery facilities. Bills from physicians are not covered.
All forms for refunds must be postmarked by Dec. 7.
In another matter, Trigon on Thursday won the competitive bidding to provide the bulk of health-benefit management for 200,000 state employees and their families, including state employees in Western Virginia.
The contract, administered by the company's Richmond office, is for a five-year period. Trigon has handled state government health insurance business since 1971.
by CNB