What Is Blue Cross & Blue Shield?

The Blue Cross & Blue Shield Association (BCBSA) is a national federation of 39 independent healthcare insurance providers operated throughout the USA which provides locally focused insurance in all 50 states and Puerto Rico.
  1. History

    • BCBSA is the oldest health benefit company in the USA, created in 1929 at Baylor University in Dallas, Texas by Justin Ford Kimball.

    Enrollment

    • BCBSA began life with 1,300 members enrolled in its healthcare benefit program which grew to over 1 million in just ten years. Currently, over 100 million or 1 in 3 Americans are enrolled in a BCBSA plan.

    Coverage

    • BCBSA is the largest healthcare benefit provider in the USA with 90% of US hospitals and 80% of US physicians working with the Association to provide healthcare for its members.

    Medicare

    • BCBSA currently processes the majority of Medicare claims. Since its introduction in 1965, 63.4 million Medicare claims have been processed by the BCBSA. In 2000, BCBSA processed over $163 billion in Medicare claims.

    Heart Transplant

    • A heart transplant which took place at Stanford University in 1984 (covered by Blue Cross & Blue Shield of California) was the first in the USA to be covered by a healthcare plan. Today, 7 types of transplant are covered by the BCBSA at 60 transplant centers.

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