ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, August 31, 1996 TAG: 9609030034
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: A-6 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: RICHMOND
SOURCE: Associated Press
The state attorney general is looking into whether Trigon Blue Cross Blue Shield's proposed conversion to a for-profit company will result in elderly policyholders losing Medicaid for nursing home care.
Any stock or cash they get could be enough to disqualify them from Medicaid, state officials fear.
Trigon wants to convert itself into a for-profit company by issuing shares of stock to its current policyholders. Policyholders are to vote by Sept. 6 on the proposal.
Mark Miner, a spokesman for Attorney General Jim Gilmore, said the attorney general's office is looking into the issue.
``We only became aware of it pretty recently,'' he said. ``We're concerned about it.''
Joseph Teefey, director of the Department of Medical Assistance Services, the state agency that runs the Medicaid program, said he believes Trigon stock would be considered like any other asset in determining eligibility for Medicaid. He said his staff also is looking into the matter.
In Virginia, elderly people generally may receive Medicaid only if their assets are less than $2,000. People with more than that must spend their assets before they can get Medicaid, which is a health insurance program meant for the poor and disabled.
Carl Colonna, an economist at Christopher Newport University in Newport News, started to worry about the issue when reviewing Trigon's mailing to his 82-year-old mother, who lives in a nursing home and whose affairs he manages.
In its mailing, Trigon estimated Colonna's mother would get 187 shares.
``If those shares are not worth less than $11, she's over the limit,'' Colonna said.
Colonna said that when he tried to get information from social services and agencies for the elderly, he found no one really knew how the Trigon stock distribution would affect nursing home residents getting Medicaid.
No one could tell him whether his mother would be dropped from the Medicaid rolls, what might be entailed in re-enrolling her, or anything he could do to avoid the problem, Colonna said.
Trigon spokeswoman Brooke Taylor said the company wasn't sure how the stock distribution would affect Medicaid recipients. ``Obviously, we're concerned about it.''
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