Blue Cross Blue Shield Association - wikipedia Blue Cross Blue Shield Association This article is about American medical insurance companies. For other uses, see Blue Cross ( disambiguation ). Blue Cross Blue Shield Association Headquarters of one of the member Blues, HCSC, in Chicago. Founded 1929 ; 89 years ago ( 1929 ) Tax ID no. 13 - 5656874 Legal status 501 ( c ) ( 4 ) public welfare organization Location Michigan Plaza Chicago, Illinois Coordinates 41 ° 53 ′ 11 '' N 87 ° 37 ′ 26 '' W ﻿ / ﻿ 41.8864516 ° N 87.6239771 ° W ﻿ / 41.8864516 ; - 87.6239771 Coordinates : 41 ° 53 ′ 11 '' N 87 ° 37 ′ 26 '' W ﻿ / ﻿ 41.8864516 ° N 87.6239771 ° W ﻿ / 41.8864516 ; - 87.6239771 Products Health insurance PPOs and HMOs President, Chief Executive Officer Scott Serota Subsidiaries Health Services Foundation, BC and BS Foundation on Health Care, BCBSA Services Inc Revenue ( 2014 ) $457,383,677 Expenses ( 2014 ) $449,635,361 Employees ( 2014 ) 1,253 Website www.bcbs.com Blue Cross Blue Shield Association ( BCBSA ) is a federation of 36 separate United States health insurance organizations and companies, providing health insurance in the United States to more than 106 million people. 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. Contents 1 History 2 Current organization 3 Member companies 4 Details on specific organizations 4.1 Idaho 4.2 Pennsylvania 5 See also 6 References 7 External links History Further information : History of insurance Health care in the United States Government Health Programs Federal Employees Health Benefits Program Indian Health Service Medicaid / State Health Insurance Assistance Program ( SHIP ) Medicare Prescription Assistance ( SPAP ) Military Health System / TRICARE State Children 's Health Insurance Program ( CHIP ) Program of All - Inclusive Care for the Elderly ( PACE ) Veterans Health Administration Private health coverage 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 ) Health insurance in the United States Managed care ( CCP ) Exclusive provider organization ( EPO ) Health maintenance organization ( HMO ) Preferred provider organization ( PPO ) 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 Dirigo Health ( Maine ) Massachusetts health care reform Oregon Health Plan SustiNet ( Connecticut ) Vermont health care reform Municipal health coverage Fair Share Health Care Act ( Maryland ) Healthy Howard ( Howard Co., Maryland ) Healthy San Francisco Healthy Way LA My Health LA This box : view talk edit Blue Cross and Blue Shield developed separately, with Blue Cross 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, and 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 U.S. 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. In 1994, BCBS changed to allow its licensees to be for - profit corporations. 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. In the final spending bill for FY 2015 after much lobbying since 2010, nonprofit Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans continue to have special tax breaks that were understood to be threatened by the Affordable Care Act of 2010. Current organization Blue Cross and Blue Shield insurance companies are licensees, independent of the association and traditionally of each other, offering insurance plans within defined regions under one or both of the association 's brands. Blue Cross Blue Shield insurers offer some form of health insurance coverage in every U.S. state. They also act as administrators of Medicare in many states or regions of the U.S. and provide coverage to state government employees as well as to the federal government employees under a nationwide option of the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program. The association has its headquarters in the Michigan Plaza complex in the Chicago Loop area of Chicago, Illinois. Member companies Publicly traded companies Anthem Inc Anthem BlueCross and BlueShield Colorado Connecticut Georgia Indiana Kentucky Maine Missouri ( excluding 30 counties in the Kansas City area ) Nevada New Hampshire Ohio Virginia ( excluding the Northern Virginia suburbs of Washington, D.C. ) Wisconsin Anthem Blue Cross ( California ) Blue Cross Blue Shield of Georgia Empire BlueCross BlueShield ( New York ) Triple - S Management Corporation ( BlueCross & BlueShield Puerto Rico ) Multi-state private companies CareFirst District of Columbia Maryland Parts of Virginia Health Care Service Corporation BlueCross BlueShield of Illinois BlueCross BlueShield of Montana BlueCross BlueShield of New Mexico BlueCross BlueShield of Oklahoma BlueCross BlueShield of Texas Highmark Highmark BlueCross BlueShield ( Western and Northeastern Pennsylvania ) Highmark BlueShield ( Eastern & Central Pennsylvania ) Highmark BlueCross Blue Shield Delaware ( Delaware ) Highmark BlueCross BlueShield West Virginia ( formerly Mountain State Blue Cross Blue Shield ) ( West Virginia ) Premera Premera BlueCross BlueShield of Alaska Premera BlueCross ( Washington ) Cambia Health Solutions Regence BlueShield of Idaho Regence Blue Cross Blue Shield of Oregon Regence BlueCross BlueShield of Utah Regence BlueShield ( Washington ) Wellmark Blue Cross Blue Shield Iowa South Dakota Single - state or regional companies Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama BlueCross BlueShield of Arizona Arkansas BlueCross BlueShield Blue Shield of California BlueCross BlueShield of Florida ( branded as Florida Blue ) Hawaii Medical Service Association Blue Cross of Idaho Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas BlueCross BlueShield of Louisiana Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota Blue Cross Blue Shield of Mississippi Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City Blue Cross Blue Shield of Nebraska Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey Excellus BlueCross BlueShield ( Central New York, Rochester and Utica / Watertown ) BlueShield of Northeastern New York ( A division of HealthNow New York Inc. ) BlueCross BlueShield of Western New York ( A division of HealthNow New York Inc. ) Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Dakota Blue Cross of Northeastern Pennsylvania Capital Blue Cross ( Central Pennsylvania ) Independence Blue Cross ( Philadelphia, Southeastern Pennsylvania ) Blue Cross Blue Shield of Rhode Island Blue Cross Blue Shield of South Carolina BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee BlueCross BlueShield of the U.S. Virgin Islands BlueCross BlueShield of Vermont BlueCross BlueShield of Wyoming Companies outside of the United States BlueCross BlueShield of Costa Rica BlueCross BlueShield of Panama BlueCross BlueShield of Uruguay Details on specific organizations This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. ( August 2009 ) Idaho Blue Cross of Idaho and Regence BlueShield of Idaho are separate companies and compete throughout the state. Pennsylvania Though historically `` Blue Cross '' was used for hospital coverage while `` Blue Shield '' was used for medical coverage, today that split only exists for traditional health insurance plans in Pennsylvania. Two independent companies operate in central Pennsylvania, Highmark Blue Shield ( Pittsburgh ) and Capital Blue Cross ( Central Pennsylvania ). In southeastern Pennsylvania, Independence Blue Cross ( Philadelphia ) has a joint marketing agreement with Highmark Blue Shield ( Pittsburgh ) for their separate hospital and medical plans. However, Independence Blue Cross, like most of its sister Blue Cross-Blue Shield companies, cover most of their customers under managed care plans such as HMOs and PPOs which provide hospital and medical care in one policy. See also Chicago portal Companies portal Blue Cross Canada References ^ Jump up to : `` Form 990 : Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax ''. Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. Guidestar. December 31, 2014. Jump up ^ `` Blue Cross Blue Shield Association - Supporting the 36 Independent, Locally Operated Blue Cross and Blue Shield Companies - BCBS.com ''. bcbs.com. ^ Jump up to : Coordinated Issue Paper -- Blue Cross Blue Shield / Health Insurance ; Life Insurance : Conversion of nonprofit corporations. 4 June 2008 ) Archived 6 May 2009 at the Wayback Machine. ^ Jump up to : Justin Ford Kimball from the Handbook of Texas Online. Retrieved August 31, 2009. Jump up ^ `` Health Care Service Corporation ( HCSC ) -- Who We Are ''. www.hcsc.com. Retrieved 2017 - 01 - 06. ^ Jump up to : Marc Lichtenstein ( n.d. ). `` Health Insurance From Invention to Innovation : A History of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Companies ''. Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. Jump up ^ `` History of Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association -- 1980s ''. Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. Archived from the original on September 26, 2009. Jump up ^ `` Nonprofit Health Inc. : Overview of issues in the protection of nonprofit assets - Blue Cross : 501 ( m ) ''. Consumers Union. 1 January 2008. Retrieved 18 December 2014. As of January 1, 1987, the federal government removed the full tax - exempt status of BCBS plans and instead created a special tax class for BCBS organizations, Internal Revenue Code ( `` I.R.C. '' ) 5833. That I.R.C. category subjected BCBS plans to federal taxation but recognized the unique role BCBS plans play, unlike commercial for - profit insurers, and entitled it to special tax benefits. Jump up ^ 26 USC § 833 -- Treatment of Blue Cross and Blue Shield organizations, etc. Title 26 -- Internal Revenue Code U.S. Code LII / Legal Information Institute law.cornell.edu. Retrieved on 2013 - 09 - 05. Jump up ^ `` Blue Cross parent boosts profit in second quarter ''. Crain 's Chicago Business. Crain Communication, Inc. 3 September 2013. Retrieved 18 December 2014. Jump up ^ Pear, Robert ( December 14, 2014 ). `` In Final Spending Bill, Salty Food and Belching Cows Are Winners ''. NY times. Retrieved December 18, 2014. Jump up ^ Health Insurance Facts Smarter Consumers of Healthcare. Health Harbor. Retrieved on 2013 - 09 - 05. Jump up ^ `` Insurance Programs ''. United States Office of Personal Management. Archived from the original on 2011 - 06 - 11. Jump up ^ `` Contact Us ''. Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. Archived from the original on January 10, 2007. Retrieved December 23, 2009. ^ Jump up to : `` Contact Us ''. anthem.com. Retrieved 6 September 2016. Jump up ^ `` Florida Blue -- New Name of BlueCross and BlueShield of Florida '' ( Press release ). PRNewswire. April 2, 2012. Retrieved April 27, 2012. Jump up ^ The Regence Group Jump up ^ `` Blue Cross and Blue Shield, A Historical Compilation '' ( PDF ). Consumer Union. External links Media related to Blue Cross Blue Shield Association at Wikimedia Commons Official website Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Blue_Cross_Blue_Shield_Association&oldid=836231955 '' Categories : 1929 establishments in the United States Companies based in Chicago Health maintenance organizations Medical and health organizations based in Illinois Insurance companies based in Illinois Members of Blue Cross Blue Shield Association Organizations established in 1929 Hidden categories : Webarchive template wayback links All articles with dead external links Articles with dead external links from December 2014 Coordinates not on Wikidata Articles to be expanded from August 2009 All articles to be expanded Articles using small message boxes Talk Contents About Wikipedia Add links This page was last edited on 13 April 2018, at 13 : 54. 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Question: who controlled blue cross when it was formed
Answer: 1929