Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association

Blue Cross Blue Shield Association

Type	Independent
Industry	Health insurance
Founded	1929
Headquarters	Michigan Plaza Chicago, Illinois
Key people	Scott Serota (CEO)
Products	PPOs, HMOs
Website	www.bcbs.com

Health care in the United States
Government Health Programs
Federal Employees Health Benefits Program Indian Health Service Veterans Health Administration Military Health System / TRICARE Medicare Medicaid / State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP) State Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) Prescription Assistance (SPAP)
Private health coverage
Health insurance in the United States Consumer-driven health care Flexible spending account (FSA) Health Reimbursement Account Health savings account (HSA) High-deductible health plan (HDHP) Medical savings account (MSA) Private Fee-For-Service (PFFS) Managed care (CCP) Health maintenance organization (HMO) Preferred provider organization (PPO) Exclusive provider organization (EPO) Medical underwriting
Health care reform law
Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (1986) Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (1996) Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act (2003) Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Act (2005) Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (2009) Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (2010)
State level reform
Massachusetts health care reform Oregon Health Plan Vermont health care reform SustiNet (Connecticut) Dirigo Health (Maine)
Municipal health coverage
Fair Share Health Care Act (Maryland) Healthy Howard (Howard Co., Maryland) Healthy San Francisco My Health LA Healthy Way LA
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The Blue Cross Blue Shield Association (BCBSA) is a federation of 36 separate United States health insurance organizations and companies, providing health insurance to more than 106 million Americans. Blue Cross was founded in 1929, and became the Blue Cross Association in 1960, while Blue Shield emerged in 1939 and the Blue Shield Association was created in 1948. The two organizations merged in 1982.

Blue Cross and Blue Shield developed separately, with Blue Cross plans providing coverage for hospital services and Blue Shield covering physicians' services.

Blue Cross is a name used by an association of health insurance plans throughout the United States. Its predecessor was developed by Justin Ford Kimball in 1929, while he was vice president of Baylor University's health care facilities in Dallas, Texas. The first plan guaranteed teachers 21 days of hospital care for $6 a year, was later extended to other employee groups in Dallas, and then nationally. The American Hospital Association (AHA) adopted the Blue Cross symbol in 1939 as the emblem for plans meeting certain standards. In 1960, the AHA commission was superseded by the Blue Cross Association. Blue Cross severed its ties with the AHA in 1972.

Blue Shield was developed by employers in lumber and mining camps of the Pacific Northwest to provide medical care by paying monthly fees to medical service bureaus composed of groups of physicians. In 1939, the first official Blue Shield plan was founded in California. In 1948, the symbol was informally adopted by nine plans called the Associated Medical Care Plan, and was later renamed the National Association of Blue Shield Plans.

In the 1960s the US government chose to partner with Blue Cross and Blue Shield companies to administer Medicare.

In 1982, Blue Shield merged with The Blue Cross Association to form the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association (BCBS).

Prior to 1986, organizations administering BCBS were tax exempt under 501(c)(4) as social welfare plans. However, the Tax Reform Act of 1986 revoked the exemption, because the plans sold commercial-type insurance. They became 501(m) organizations, subject to federal taxation, but entitled to "special tax benefits" under IRC 833.

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Wikipedia