ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, November 21, 1996 TAG: 9611210050
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: RICHMOND
SOURCE: Associated Press
Former state Sen. Hunter Andrews of Hampton was among three people nominated Wednesday by Attorney General Jim Gilmore to serve on the Trigon Blue Cross Blue Shield board of directors.
Andrews, a Democrat who was chairman of the powerful Senate Finance Committee, was defeated for re-election last year.
The Republican attorney general also nominated former Richmond Mayor Geline Williams and Dr. Percy Wootton, a cardiologist and professor at the Medical College of Virginia.
Gilmore and the General Assembly each are authorized to nominate three candidates for the board under an agreement allowing Trigon to convert from a mutual company owned by policyholders to a for-profit, shareholder-owned company.
Trigon will choose two new directors - one from among Gilmore's nominees, one from among the legislature's. The addition of outside directors is intended to improve oversight of the company.
The agreement also requires Trigon to pay the state about $175 million. The money is designated for colleges and medical research.
Trigon is the state's largest health insurer, with about 30 percent of the market. It pays for the health care of 1.8 million people in a territory that covers all of Virginia except some Washington suburbs.
LENGTH: Short : 35 linesby CNB