Blue Cross was started in 1929 by Justin Ford Kimball, at
Baylor University in Dallas, Texas. It was developed to
guarantee teachers 21 days of hospital care for $6 a year. Later
on the plan was enlarged to other people in the Dallas area and
then throughout the country.
In 1939 the term Blue Cross was used to include other plans as
well. Blue Cross is a name used by an association of health
insurance plans throughout the United States.
It was developed in 1929, by Justin Ford Kimball, at Baylor
University in Dallas, Texas. The first plan guaranteed teachers
The plan was 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.
So as it stands today Blue Cross is an independent membership
association working on a service basis and providing protection
against the costs mainly of hospital care. Benefit payments are
made directly to the hospital. Benefits vary among various Blue
Cross associations.
And then there is Blue Shield which, rather than covering
hospital care, provides protection on a service basis against
the cost of surgical and medical care in a limited geographical
area. The actual Blue Cross, which was a blue Greek Cross, was
created by the artist Joseph Binder under the auspices of E A
van Steenwijk who was the Company secretary of Blue Cross and
Blue Shield of Minnesota.
The Blue Cross began now to be used in other parts of the
country as well. At present it is a national trade organization
linking 40 health insurance companies in the US, Canada and
Puerto Rico together.
Supposedly, Blue Cross operations are considered to happen as
franchises in specifically designated regions. At present these
services are available in every state wihin the United States
and every Canadian province
Blue Cross is very prevalent in providing coverage to State as
well as Federal government employees and they are also very
important in the administration of Social Security. There is a
problem with health insurance in the United States.
There is a conflict between the need for the insurance company
to make money versus the need of their clients to remain
healthy. This need to make money has become so uncontrolled that
one third of the population in the US can not afford medical
insurance and medical bills today are the major cause for
bankruptcies. This is why state and federal regulation of health
insurance companies is necessary. On the other hand medical
insurance companies could hypothetically face unforeseen events
such as the chicken flu where a large percentage of their
clients all of a sudden face horrendous hospital bills.
Theoretically this could bankrupt the insurance company within a
very short timeframe. So to prevent this situation medical
insurance companies use a variety of checks and balances to
limit payments to beneficiaries.
And of course it is a well-known fact that those seeking health
insurance are also those most likely to have medical problems
being present or future ones. It is also known that if the cost
of healthcare to the beneficiary is very low than the use of
medical benefits will be much greater than if the cost is
substantial.
So to find the balance where medical services are available when
needed but not abused to the extend that for every paper cut you
will make a visit to the doctor proper safeguards should be in
place.
So in theory, if people would exercise, would eat healthy food,
would avoid addictive substances, this would lower health
insurance prices because the insurance companies would pay fewer
doctor bills.
However, you could then also say that too much of the insurance
premiums would be paid out in executive salaries or kept as
profits by the company.
About the author:
Frank Hague is very interested in Blue Cross
http://blue-cross-basic-fed-blue.info http://www.aarp-now.info
http://www.life-extension-now.com
