July 23--FLORENCE, S.C. -- Florence-based PGBA and Instil Health Insurance are sponsoring an Honor Flight for veterans from the Pee Dee to Washington, D.C., in November.

The Honor Flight, one in a series of such flights designed to allow veterans to travel -- at not cost to them -- to the nation's capital to visit the World War II Memorial and Arlington Cemetery, will have space for around 100 vets. The flight is scheduled for Nov. 7 -- just a few days before Veteran's Day 2012.

The sponsorship makes perfect sense for PGBA and Instil, both of which work with veterans and their families as part of the military's health care program, TRICARE.

"Our employees are honored to serve members of the military and their families every day through TRICARE, and they are especially proud to sponsor the Veterans Day Honor Flight," said Bruce Hughes, president of BlueCross' Government Programs division, which includes PGBA and InStil Health Insurance. "Without Honor Flight, many heroes who served our country in World War II would never have the opportunity to see their own memorial."

There is a national network of Honor Flights and the people associated with the group feel a great sense of urgency in taking as many veterans as possible on these trips.

"Every single World War II veteran should see the memorial, and we are so grateful to PGBA and InStil Health Insurance for helping Honor Flight South Carolina come closer to that goal," said Bill Dukes, founder and president of the state's Honor Flight chapter. "Only about 1.7 million of the 16 million World War II veterans are still with us, and about 800 of these heroes pass away every day."

Although priority will be given to veterans that are relatives or close acquaintances of PGBA or InStil Health Insurance employees, any remaining seats will go to veterans who apply through Honor Flight South Carolina (www.HonorFlightSC.com).

PGBA has headquarters in Florence. The company processes medical claims and provides customer service and sophisticated systems platforms on behalf of beneficiaries, physicians and hospitals in the TRICARE program. The company is a subcontractor to TRICARE prime contractors Humana Military Healthcare Services and Health Net Federal Services. In addition to TRICARE, PGBA processes claims for other government programs and private insurers throughout the United States. PGBA has offices in Columbia, Florence, Camden and Surfside Beach.

InStil Health Insurance Co. provides administrative services to the Department of Defense under a TRICARE Managed Care Support Program subcontract and to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services for Medicare Advantage health plan products under an administrative services agreement. InStil Health Insurance has headquarters in Columbia.

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(c)2012 the Florence Morning News (Florence, S.C.)

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