How Did Health Insurance Got Started? 
Health insurance in the US began during the Civil War era with policies issued by the Massachusetts Health Insurance Company . The Blue Cross association was the first group to start what would evolve in to modern health insurance plans in this country . Other carriers , including Time Insurance -LRB- now known as Asssurant -RRB- have a long history of offering health insurance to individuals and employer groups . Over the last few years carriers such as Mutual of Omaha , Bankers Life and Casualty , Aetna , Cigna -LRB- formerly Connecticut General -RRB- and others have become prominent in the health insurance market . Kaiser Permanente introduce the HMO concept in 1933 