Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, January 12, 1995 TAG: 9501130030
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MAG POFF STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Trigon Blue Cross Blue Shield said Wednesday it won't know for another month the final number of refunds it will pay to policyholders under a state-mandated program to share discounts the health insurer negotiated with hospitals.
Joe Macrum, spokesman for the company in Richmond, said Trigon has received 163,288 claims and is still receiving forms postmarked by Saturday's deadline.
He had no up-to-date figures on the number of claims paid; but as of Friday, the company had mailed payments to 107,583 customers. By mid-December, refunds totaling nearly $11 million had been sent to 84,300 claimants, an average of about $200 each, the company said.
It will take another 30 days to review claims and compile a final report, Macrum said.
He said that 200 people came to Trigon's headquarters in downtown Roanoke on Saturday to file claim forms in person. Another 800 went to the Richmond headquarters, which was also open Saturday.
The company sent 1,200 claim forms by fax between last Wednesday and Saturday. Until last week, forms had been sent by mail and printed in several major Virginia newspapers.
Trigon is the state's largest provider of health insurance, covering 970,000 Virginians. It is making the refunds as part of a settlement with the State Corporation Commission that also included a $5 million civil penalty.
The state agency's Bureau of Insurance said Trigon failed to share with policyholders the discounts it had negotiated in their hospital bills. Company officials said that the money was used instead to decrease premiums for all policyholders.
The SCC said the company violated Virginia insurance law for 10 years, from 1984 until 1993.
by CNB