What You Should Know About Blue Cross

About The Blue Cross 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

Tags | area, benefit, employees, geographical, independent, membership, minnesota, operations, organization, steenwijk, university