Excellus Blue Cross Blue Shield

Company Overview
Excellus Blue Cross Blue Shield has an excellent variety of benefits and finance plans tailored to the specific needs of its members. By working tirelessly to meet and exceed their level of commitment, they constantly improve the health of the local areas they service.

Excellus Blue Cross Blue Shield Ratings »

History
The Blue Cross brand originated in 1929 at Baylor University with a plan offering teachers three weeks of hospital care for $6 per year. As the company grew, it began offering coverage to other employee groups in Dallas and later expanded to national coverage. The Blue Shield brand was developed at the start of last century with lumber and mining employers in the Pacific Northwest paying a monthly fee to a designated group of physicians.Blue Shield and the Blue Cross Associationmerged in 1982 to become the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association.

In 1935 the Rochester Hospital Service Corporation was formed, which later became Blue Cross of Rochester. In 1936, the Syracuse Hospital Service Corporation was founded and will eventually be known as Blue Cross of Central New York. The CNY Medical Plan, Inc. was formed in 1945 and will later change its name to Blue Shield of Central New York. One year later in 1946, the Genesee Valley Medical Care, Inc. was founded, which will eventually become known as Blue Shield of Rochester.
In 1985 Blue Cross of Central New York and Blue Shield of Central New York merged to become Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Central New York. In 1996, Excellus, Inc. was created from the mergers of Blue Cross Blue Shield of New York and BCBS of Rochester. A year later, BCBS of Utica-Watertown merge with Excellus and in 2003 BCBS of Central New York and BCBS of Utica-Watertown officially change their names to Excellus BCBS.

Current Organization
Headquartered in Rochester, New York, Excellus Blue Cross Blue Shield provides health insurance coverage to over 2-million members and employs more than 6000. Though it is part of a $4-billion Blue Cross Blue Shield family, Excellus maintains its focus on a strong local presence with four regional headquarter offices as well as additional field offices to better serve residents in upstate New York.