The History of Blue Cross Blue Shield Health Insurance

Blue Cross Blue Shield health insurance refers to the federation of health insurance companies comprising the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association (BCBSA). It is the United States' oldest and largest collection of health insurance companies.

Beginnings

• The archetype of the BCBSA was formed in 1929 when Justin Ford Kimball created a prepaid hospital plan at Baylor University in Dallas, Texas. In a decade's time, enrollment swelled from 1,300 to 3 million.

Blue Cross and Blue Shield

• Kimball's plan was known as Blue Cross. It gained a companion piece in 1939 when a health care coordinator, Carl Metzger, commissioned the creation of the Blue Shield symbol for the health plan he was in charge of.

Going National

• With the spread of Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans nationwide, and there was an increasing need to form national organizations to encompass each kind of plan. This was done in 1947 and 1948, respectively.

Function

• In 1982, companies throughout the country supporting Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans merged as the BCBSA. It is composed of regional insurance companies that act independently of each other, but share the national association's guidelines.

Significance

• In 2009, enrollment at BCBSA for health plans reached more than 100 million American citizens. More than 90 percent of hospitals and 80 percent of physicians in the United States--as well as more than 170 countries--use its plans.