Blue Cross Blue Shield Health Insurance Covers One Third Of All Americans
Blue Cross insurance was created by Justin Ford Kimball in 1929 when he devised a plan to provide hospital care for school teachers in Dallas. This initial plan provided teachers with cover for up to twenty one days of hospitalization every year for a premium of just six dollars.
From these very humble beginnings the plan spread throughout Dallas and then to other areas of Texas. Before long the plan was being adopted nationwide and was providing cover for employees in a widening range of employment.
As little as ten years after it was born the Blue Cross symbol was adopted by the American Hospital Association and was used for plans which met certain standards. This formal recognition gave Blue Cross insurance the springboard which it needed for further growth.
By 1960 the popularity of Blue Cross insurance was such that the Blue Cross Association superseded the American Hospital Association commission and then, just twelve years later, all ties with the commission were severed.
Finally, the Blue Cross Association merged with the National Association of Blue Shield Plans in 1982 and the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association which we know today was formed.
The Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association is essentially a trade association for some 38 independent and locally or regionally operated Blue Cross and Blue Shield Plans. Together, these provide cover throughout the United States, and in the Canadian province, for millions of Americans and makes Blue Cross and Blue Shield the country's biggest health care provider. It is currently estimated that one out of every three Americans carries a Blue Cross and Blue Shield card.
However, Blue Cross and Blue Shield does a great deal more than just provide medical insurance cover on a group and individual basis.
Today the Association is also the Social Security administrator in a large number of states and frequently provides group cover for both state government employees and employees of the Federal government. This means that officials within Blue Cross and Blue Shield work closely with government health policy makers at the very highest levels of government and that the Association plays a major role in influencing the direction of government health policy.
It is astonishing to think that a plan which was originally devised merely to provide cover for the hospital bills of a small group of school teachers in Dallas has now developed not only into a nationwide plan providing cover for just about anything you can imagine including critical illness, disability, long-term care, dental cover, pharmacy cover, life cover and even cover for worldwide travel, but has also spawned an organization which is at the very heart of the United States health care system.
With such incredible growth over the past seventy five years and a very strong position today it seem inevitable that Blue Cross and Blue Shield will continue to grow in the years ahead and provide more and more cover for a growing number of customers.
Blue Cross Blue Shield Health Insurance - A Personal View
Captive agents: Agents that represent only one health plan or insurer.
Integrated delivery system (IDS): A provider organization that is fully integrated operationally and clinically to provide a full range of health care services, including physician services, hospital services, and ancillary services.
Open access: A provision that specifies that plan members may self-refer to a specialist, either in-network or out-of-network, at full benefit or at a reduced benefit, without first obtaining a referral from a primary care provider.
Subauthorization: The authorization of one health care service concurrently with the authorization of another service. For example, an authorization for hospitalization may cover surgery, anesthesia, pathology, and radiology performed during the hospitalization.
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