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BCBS of RI collects $2.5 million from Perot Systems

Patient Financial Services Weekly Advisor, February 25, 2005

Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Rhode Island collected $2.5 million from Perot Systems Corp. for contractual defaults and performance penalties. The payment results from problems that came as Perot took over the insurer's claims processing, according to a February 22 report in The Providence Journal.

Perot has been processing BCBS of RI claims since June 2003. But the new computer system to handle the claims is still not operational, the Journal reported.

The Journal contacted other providers and billing companies working with BCBS of RI and Perot, most of whom said they were not experiencing major problems getting their claims paid.

Once source, Jill M. Holbrook, president of medical billing company Doctor's Health System, said her company had roughly $6.5 million in claims that were more than 45 days overdue-but that was from all health insurers.

Another source, Susan Infantolino, part owner of prosthetic supplier New England Orthopedics, said her company has about $1.4 million in unpaid medical claims from all insurers.

BCBS of RI Spokesman Scott Fraser said that of the 4.3 million claims that came to Blue Cross in the last six months of last year, nearly 98% were paid within 30 days. Perot, he said, has been "working very hard, very long hours, to reduce the claims backlog."

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