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

DATE: SATURDAY, January 7, 1995                   TAG: 9501090035
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: A-4   EDITION: METRO  
SOURCE: MAG POFF STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

TRIGON DEADLINE IS TODAY

Trigon Blue Cross/Blue Shield has made refunds to more than 107,000 customers who have filed claims under a state-ordered restitution. The payments resulted from charges that the insurance company failed to share with policyholders the discounts it negotiated on their behalf with hospitals.

On Friday, eve of the deadline for filing claims, the company said it has received about 155,000 claims and mailed payments to 107,583 people.

Company spokesman Joe Macrum said the insurance company could not give the value of the average payment. In mid-December, the company reported having paid about $11 million to about 84,300 claimants, with the average refund less than $200.

Trigon, the state's largest provider of health insurance, covering 970,000 Virginians, is making the refunds as part of a settlement that also included a $5 million civil penalty by the State Corporation Commission's Bureau of Insurance.

The settlement involves a former billing practice in which Trigon denied policyholders the benefits of discounts it had negotiated with hospitals, according to the SCC. The state alleged that Trigon violated Virginia insurance law for 10 years, from 1984 to 1993.

Trigon has said it no longer uses the practices and bases co-payments on discounted hospital charges.

Today is the last day for Trigon policyholders to file claims.

Macrum said all claims must be postmarked by midnight tonight. That means they must be picked up in today's collections from mailboxes.

Although the company has distributed claim forms and even had them printed in several newspapers, including the Roanoke Times & World-News, a claim can be made simply by providing some basic information. All that is required is the name of the person who received medical treatment, the name of the policyholder, the policy number (which generally is the individual's Social Security number) and the person's address. The claim must be signed. "We will do the rest," Macrum said.

Anyone who wants a form - or to turn in a form in person - can do that at Trigon's Roanoke office at 602 S. Jefferson St. before 4 p.m. today. The office will be open until then to distribute and accept the forms.

Trigon also will answer a toll-free telephone number from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. today to respond to questions or send forms. Trigon will fax forms to a public business center or to another fax machine. The number to call is (800) 313-6224.

Macrum said Trigon doesn't have facilities to accept forms by fax, however. Any blank form faxed to a potential claimant must be postmarked today or hand-delivered today to Trigon's office.

by CNB