BLUE CROSS-BLUE SHIELD IS FINED BY THE STATE

Blue Cross-Blue Shield Inc. of Missouri, headquartered in St. Louis, has been fined almost $150,000 for violating consumer-complaint and claims-processing laws.

The fine is the largest ever levied in the state against an insurance company for problems in internal operations, the Missouri Department of Insurance said.

The department fined Missouri's largest health insurer $98,850 and one of its subsidiaries, HMO Missouri Inc., $50,000 for violations that regulators said occurred mostly between 1989 and 1993.

Regulators said the organization was cited primarily for failing to respond to consumer complains quickly enough and for failing to acknowledge receipt of claims for services other providers supplied members, or settling those claims.

The HMO subsidiary was cited for similar violations and for waiting nearly four years to establish a mandatory advisory panel through which HMO members can suggest policy and operations changes in the organization.