The Blue Cross Blue Shield Association (BCBSA) is a federation of 38 separate health insurance organizations and companies in the United States. Combined, they directly or indirectly provide health insurance to over 99 million Americans. The history of Blue Cross dates back to 1929, while the history of Blue Shield dates to 1939. The Blue Cross Association dates back to 1960, while its Blue Shield counterpart was created in 1948. The two organizations merged in 1982, forming the current association.
Read more about Blue Cross Blue Shield Association: History, Current Organization, List of Blue Cross and Blue Shield Companies, Criticism and Controversy
Famous quotes containing the words blue, cross, shield and/or association:
“This side of the truth,
You may not see, my son,
King of your blue eyes
In the blinding country of youth,
That all is undone,
Under the unminding skies....”
—Dylan Thomas (1914–1953)
“It is an agreeable change to cross a lake, after you have been shut up in the woods, not only on account of the greater expanse of water, but also of sky. It is one of the surprises which Nature has in store for the traveler in the forest. To look down, in this case, over eighteen miles of water, was liberating and civilizing even.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“The lichen on the rocks is a rude and simple shield which beginning and imperfect Nature suspended there. Still hangs her wrinkled trophy.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“An association of men who will not quarrel with one another is a thing which has never yet existed, from the greatest confederacy of nations down to a town meeting or a vestry.”
—Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826)