Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!americast-post Newsgroups: americast.wpost From: americast-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: americast-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: How Customers Are Affected< Date: Wed, 28 Oct 92 04:28:31 EST Message-ID: <27.1992Oct28.042831@AmeriCast.com> How Customers Are Affected< Here are answers to questions that customers of Blue Cross-Blue Shield of the National Capital Area may have about the financial problems disclosed yesterday by officials of the health insurance company:Am I still covered?Yes. The Blue Cross plan continues to operate normally, and officials said it is fully able to pay all claims. Will there be any change in my benefits or services? No. All Blue Cross policies remain in force, and their terms are unchanged. Any benefit or service that you were entitled to yes- terday you remain entitled to today. What about premiums, bills and other paperwork? Continue to deal with them as you have in the past. If you are an individual policyholder, send premium payments and claims to the same address as before. If you are in a group plan or the Federal Employee Health Benefit Plan, claim and premium procedures remain unchanged as well. Will my premiums rise? Not immediately, but officials would not rule out future in- creases. Rate increases for individual policies and small group policies need the approval of regulators, and increases for large group plans are subject to negotiations with employers. If I live outside the Washington area, am I affected? Probably not. The troubled plan covers residents of the District and its immediate suburbs, plus some people in West Virginia and federal workers outside the area. Blue Cross-Blue Shield of Mary- land, which covers that state except for Prince George's and Montgomery counties, had financial troubles, but officials there said it is now making money. Blue Cross of Virginia, based in Richmond and covering some people in Northern Virginia and residents of other parts of the state, is in very good condition, regulators said. If there is no immediate danger to policyholders, why the fuss? The decline in Blue Cross's reserves, coupled with operating losses from insurance and other businesses, is bad news for the company. Unless it returns to profitability and rebuilds its reserves, it cannot continue to operate. If Blue Cross officials find an outside investor, policies and coverage will likely remain unchanged. However, if a merger with another Blue Cross is necessary, your coverage would be transferred to that new company. If that happens, few short-term changes are expected, but the long term is less certain. However, no one is expected to lose coverage as a result of such a transfer.<02:21 10-28C9999----- Copyright 1992, The Washington Post. This story is from the Washington Post's Capitol Edition On-Line and is not to be ar- chived or redistributed. For more information, send-email to American Cybercasting Cor- poration (usa@AmeriCast.COM)