NEW CONTRACT INTENDED TO CONTROL EXPENSES

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

DATE: MONDAY, February 10, 1992                   TAG: 9202100155
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short
NEW CONTRACT INTENDED TO CONTROL EXPENSES
It could be worth up to $20 million to the winner, but the pending contract to administer mental health services for state employees is expected to save taxpayers millions of dollars by more tightly controlling expenses.
The competition is over the right to serve as administrator for mental health services to state employees, overseeing treatment strategies with an eye toward reducing expensive treatments and hospitalization. State employees filed mental health insurance claims totaling $24.1 million last year.
FHC Options, a subsidiary of Norfolk-based First Hospital Corp., has an impressive record in this "managed care" field. Nearly four years ago, FHC Options won a four-year, $143 million contract to administer mental health services for CHAMPUS, which serves military families and retirees. In that time, FHC says the program has saved the military some $150 million by aggressively cutting costs.
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Virginia, the largest insurance concern in the state, is essentially the incumbent in the competition. Blue Cross administers mental health payments as part of state employee health insurance.

by Bhavesh Jinadra by CNB