Blue Cross Blue Shield Association
This permits each BCBSA company to offer nationwide insurance coverage through its BlueCard provider network and claims reimbursement program even though it operates only in its designated service area.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.[8] 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.[8] The American Hospital Association (AHA) adopted the Blue Cross symbol in 1939 as the emblem for plans meeting certain standards.[7] During 2010, Health Care Service Corporation, the parent company of BCBS in Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Montana and Illinois, nearly doubled its income to $1.09 billion in 2010, and began four years of billion-dollar profits.[29] In August 2022, more than 12,000 members of Arkansas Blue Cross were affected by a ransomware attack on a former affiliate, North Highland Company, LLC.[36] During 2022, BCBS and University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMMC) network entered conflict over who is to blame for an increasing lack of covered care in the state.[37] Media reported that UMMC had paid close to $279,000 for digital advertising, commercials, and billboards to attack BCBS, which, in subsequent months, sued the hospital for defamation.[40] On July 1, 2018, BCBS Nebraska formed GoodLife Partners Inc., a mutual holding company, to conduct its noninsurance businesses.[51] BCBSNC invests in chronic and underlying condition research,[52] telehealth[53] and artificial intelligence (AI) for digital healthcare.[66]: 63 An exceptional case occurred in the Empire Blue Cross conversion, where the proceeds went to fund wage increases for union workers.[69] In August 2024, BCBS of Illinois, Texas, New Mexico, Montana, and Oklahoma ceased paying for surgical anesthesia given to patients with complex health conditions, a move which the company said would streamline costs, but which the medical community was strongly against.[74] The American Society of Anesthesiologists decried this move, calling it a “money grab” and “commercial health insurers looking to drive their profits up at the expense of patients”.
Blue Cross (disambiguation)Aon CenterChicagoTax ID no.501(c)(4) public welfare organizationRandolph StreetIllinoisHealth insurancePresidentSubsidiariesUnited StatesfederationPuerto Riconationwide health insurance program for employeesUnited States federal governmentHealthcare in the United StatesFederal Employees Health Benefits ProgramIndian Health ServiceMedicaidMedicareMilitary Health SystemTricareChildren's Health Insurance ProgramProgram of All-Inclusive Care for the ElderlyVeterans Health AdministrationConsumer-driven healthcareFlexible spending accountHealth reimbursement accountHealth savings accountHigh-deductible health planMedical savings accountHealth insurance in the United StatesHealth insurance marketplacesPremium tax creditManaged careExclusive provider organizationHealth maintenance organizationPreferred provider organizationMedical underwritingHealth care reformEmergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor ActHealth Insurance Portability and Accountability ActMedicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization ActPatient Safety and Quality Improvement ActHealth Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health ActPatient Protection and Affordable Care ActDirigo HealthMassachusetts health care reformOregon Health PlanSustiNetConnecticutVermont health care reformHealthcare in CaliforniaHealthy San FranciscoHealthy Way LAMy Health LAFair Share Health Care ActHealthy HowardJustin Ford KimballBaylor UniversityDallas, TexasAmerican Hospital AssociationU.S. government501(c)Tax Reform Act of 1986Health Care Service CorporationAffordable Care ActlicenseesU.S. stateMichigan PlazaChicago LoopBlue Cross Blue Shield of MichiganCareFirstElevance HealthGuideWellTriple-S ManagementHighmarkPremeraCambia Health SolutionsWellmark Blue Cross Blue ShieldBlue Cross and Blue Shield of AlabamaBlue Shield of CaliforniaBlue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas CityBlue Cross Blue Shield of MassachusettsBlue Cross Blue Shield of North DakotaBlue Cross Blue Shield of South CarolinaBlueCross BlueShield of TennesseeHawaii Medical Service AssociationHorizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New JerseyIndependence Blue CrossNew OrleansUniversity of Mississippi Medical Centernon-profitRochester, New YorkUpstate New YorkBuffalo, New Yorktelehealthartificial intelligencedigital healthcareCambia HealthPatrick H. ConwayPennsylvaniaPittsburghPhiladelphiaProvidence, Rhode IslandGillette, WyomingCanadian Association of Blue Cross Plansdismissed, with prejudicecharitable foundationCalifornia Health Care Foundationproton therapyProPublicaAmerican Society of AnesthesiologistsBrian ThompsonLakeland, FloridaBlue Cross CanadaWayback MachineGuidestarHandbook of TexasConsumers UnionThe New York TimesBloomberg NewsMedia Matters for AmericaCharlotte Observer