The American Hospital Association (AHA) adopted the Blue Cross symbol in 1939 as the emblem for plans meeting certain standards. The first plan guaranteed teachers 21 days of hospital care for $6 a year, and was later extended to other employee groups in Dallas, and then nationally.
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. īlue Cross is a name used by an association of health insurance plans throughout the United States.
Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (2010)īlue Cross and Blue Shield developed separately, with Blue Cross providing coverage for hospital services and Blue Shield covering physicians' services. Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (2009). Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Act (2005). Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act (2003). Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (1996). Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (1986). Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE). Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP). Medicaid / State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP). Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHBP). This permits each BCBSA company to offer nationwide insurance coverage even though it operates only in its designated service area. The BCBSA manages communications between its members and the operating policies required to be a licensee of the trademarks. It has affiliated plans in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico, as well as licensees offering plans in several foreign countries it also participates in the nationwide health insurance program for employees of the United States federal government. The BCBSA claims to control access to the Blue Cross and Blue Shield trademarks and names across the United States and in more than 170 other countries, which it then licenses to the affiliated companies for specific, exclusive geographic service areas. 
The main office is in Chicago in the Illinois Center at 225 North Michigan Avenue. It was formed in 1982 from the merger of its two namesake organizations: 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.Ĭommonly called "The Blues" within the healthcare insurance industry, the organization has two offices, one in Chicago and one in Washington, D.C. Blue Cross Blue Shield Association ( BCBS, BCBSA) is a federation, or supraorganization, of, in 2022, 34 independent and locally operated BCBSA companies that provide health insurance in the United States to more than 115 million people.
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