 
Health Insurance California >> Blue Cross >> Blue Cross Blue Shield History BLUE CROSS BLUE SHIELD History During 1929, Justin Ford Kimball had become vice president of Baylor University in Dallas, Texas. As a knowledgeable administrator, he headed the College of Medicine, School of Nursing, College of Dentistry, and the university hospital. Soon after taking the job, he developed a health plan for teachers with 21 days of hospital care for $6 a year. The plan was extensive to other employee groups in Dallas, and parallel plans began to spread nationally. The cross symbol was first used in a 1934 ad for the Hospital Service Association, today it is known as Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota. Company secretary E.A. van Steenwyk had Viennese artist Joseph Binder make a poster that incorporated a blue Greek cross. Van Steenwyk continued to use the symbol to recognize his company's health plans, and the Blue Cross started to be used in other parts of the country. In 1939, the Chicago-based American Hospital Association started using the Blue Cross symbol to state that health plans across the country met certain standards. The AHA continued to control the use of the symbol until the Blue Cross Association was founded in 1960. The two organizations remained united until 1972. One more health plan earned popularity in the lumber
and mining camps of the Pacific Northwest during the same time that Kimball
started. These will give medical care by paying monthly fees to medical
service bureaus composed by groups of physicians. The first of these,
Pierce County Medical Bureau (now well known as Regence Blue Shield) in
Tacoma, Washington, was established in 1917 and is now a part of The Regence
Group. The shield symbol was shaped in Buffalo, New York by Carl Metzger
in 1939, and the prime official Blue Shield plan was established in California
that same year. In 1948 the symbol was casually adopted by nine plans
called the Associated Medical Care Plans, and was later renamed as the
National Association of Blue Shield Plans. The 40 local member companies of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association have provided millions of families like yours with top-quality, affordable health insurance for more than 75 years. For the one in four Americans who carry Blue Cross and Blue Shield cards, the Blue Plans symbolize health security. Each independent Member Plan is locally based, with first-hand experience responding to your needs, providing the kind of health care coverage you and your loved ones will want and need in the 21st century: high quality, customer-focused, ground-breaking and affordable. Current organization Blue Cross-Blue Shield operations are considered to occur by a series of administratively independent franchises contributing insurance plans within defined regions. Blue Cross-Blue Shield offers some form of health insurance coverage in each US state and Canadian province. They also act as administrators of Medicare in many of the states or other regions of the U.S., and regularly could be found giving group coverage to state government employees, as well as the U.S. Federal government. Thus a strong bond exists among the Blue Cross-Blue Shield entity and health insurance policy making bodies at the highest levels of government in the United States. Some of the state plans have been complex to attain economies of scale. Many plans are administered by not-for-profit organizations and others are for-profit companies. The 14-state Well-Point is the largest Blue Cross-Blue Shield member, and is a publicly-traded company. Other multi-state organizations comprise CareFirst in the Mid-Atlantic and The Regence Group in the Pacific Northwest. In 2003, the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association took in US$182.7 billion in revenue. As we move forward in the new millennium, there are many exciting medical breakthroughs likely just around the corner. With those discoveries comes change. The Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association and its member Plans will be there every step of the way for American families, like always. Choose a Blue Company from the list below
to learn more about specific plans in your state. For more than five decades,
Blue Cross and Blue Shield have led the way in serving customers meet
the challenges of healthcare. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of South Carolina
(BCBSSC) today serve as a total of 21.5 million people across the nation
and around the world! You're sure to find the Blue Cross and Blue Shield
of South Carolina health plan that meets your needs:
References Blue Cross Blue Shield History Blue Cross Blue Shield Programs Animal Adoption with Blue Cross
For more informations on our services contact insurance brokers John Good| Kelly Good |
|
