Blue Cross Blue Shield Ratings		13 Customer Ratings
Coverage:		2.15 out of 5
Cost:		2.08 out of 5
Customer Service:		1.85 out of 5
Claims:		2.36 out of 5

The Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, also known as the BCBSA is an American coalition of 39 community based, independent and locally operated health care coverage groups that cover over 97 million Americans annually.

Justin Ford Kimball became the vice-president of Baylor University, Waco, Texas in 1929. As a practiced administrator he was the head of the Baylor College of Medicine, School of Nursing, College of Dentistry and the University Hospital. After taking the position, Kimball developed a health plan that guaranteed the teachers 21 days of hospital care for a cost of $6 annually. This health care plan was extended to other employee groups in Dallas and other health plans that were similar and fashioned in likeness to Kimball's model began to spread across the country.

The Blue Cross Blue Shield cross symbol was first used in 1934 in an advertisement for the Hospital Service Association, which is now known as Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota. E. A. van Steenwyk, the company secretary, had Joseph Binder, a Viennese artist create a poster for the company that included the Greek blue cross. Van Steenwyk continued to use the blue Greek cross as a brand to identify the company's health plans and the blue cross saw use throughout the country shortly thereafter.

The American Hospital Association, in Chicago, began using the Greek cross symbol to identify health plans that met a certain standard in 1939. The American Hospital Association used the symbol until the Blue Cross Association was founded in 1960 - the two organizations stayed as affiliates until 1972.

During this period of time, there was another health plan that was gaining popularity in the mining and lumber camps in the Pacific Northwest of the country, beginning nearly at the same time as Kimball's plan. The first of these health plans was the Pierce County Medical Bureau, which is now known as Regence Blue Shield in Tacoma, Washington. It was founded in 1917 and is now a part of the Regence Group. These medical plans provided medical care by paying monthly fees to medical service bureaus that were comprised of a group of physicians.

The Blue Cross Blue Shield symbol was created in 1939 by Carl Metzger in Buffalo, New York, and the first official Blue Shield plan was founded on the other side of the country in California in the same year. The shield symbol was informally adopted by nine plans called the Associated Medical Care Plans in 1948 - the association was later renamed the National Association of Blue Shield Plans.

The Blue Cross and Blue Shield companies are franchises which are independent of the main association. They offer insurance plans in regions of the country under one or both of the association brands (Blue Cross or Blue Shield). The Blue Cross Blue Shield providers offer some form of coverage in each of the states in the US. In many states and regions of the US, the insurance providers also act as Medicare administrators and can usually be found providing group coverage to employees of the state, as well as the US Federal Government under the Federal Employees Health Benefit Plan - a nationwide option that was established by the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association on behalf of the US Federal Government.

There is a strong bond between the Blue Cross and Blue Shield systems and health insurance policy makers in the highest levels of government in the United States.

Historically, Blue Cross was used for hospital coverage and Blue Shield was used for medical coverage, however today that split in descriptions only exists for traditional insurance plans in eastern Pennsylvania where the Independence Blue Cross in Philadelphia and the Blue Cross of Northeastern Pennsylvania have a joint marketing agreement with Highmark Blue Shield in Pittsburg for separate medical and hospital plans. Independence Blue Cross, similar to most Blue Cross and Blue Shield companies cover most of their customers under a managed care plan such as an HMO or PPO, which provide both medical and hospital care in one policy.

Throughout most of the US, including in western Pennsylvania, one insurer operates under both Blue Cross and Blue Shield brands. In remaining states, including central Pennsylvania and California, the Blue Cross and Blue Shield brands belong to competing insurers.

Blue Cross Blue Shield in Idaho displays both the Blue Shield logo with the Blue Cross logo and is in direct competition with Regence Blue Shield of Idaho. Some state plans have merged together to achieve economies in scale to the state. Many of the insurance plans are administered by non-profit organizations while others are for-profit companies. All Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans must pay a Federal income tax under the Tax Reform Act of 1986, however some insurance plans are still considered non-profit at the state level.

The largest Blue Cross and Blue Shield Insurance member is the 14-state WellPoint Company which is a publicly traded company. Other multi-state associations include CareFirst in the Mid-Atlantic and the Regence Group in the Pacific Northwest. The biggest non-investor owned member is the Health Care Service Corporation which operates both Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans in the Midwest and Southwest.

The Blue Cross Blue Shield brands are known and registered in more than 170 countries. For more than 70 years, the 39 Blue Cross Blue Shield companies have provided families with affordable, top-quality health insurance.

Blue Cross and Blue Shield companies represent the oldest and largest family of health benefit companies and the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Insurance brands are the most recognized brands in the health insurance industry.

The Blue Cross Blue Shield headquarters are in Chicago and has offices in Washington, D.C. and all together employs over 880 employees and is among the 20 largest employers in the United States. The 39 United States Blue Cross and Blue Shield companies provide health insurance for one in three Americans - more than 99 million people.

The Blue Cross Blue Shield companies have a contract with more than 90 percent of hospitals and 80 percent of physicians which is more than any other health care insurer in the country. Blue Cross Blue Shield provides a variety of insurance products to all people in the United States population and include individuals, small business and large corporations with large employee groupings.