Blue Cross Blue Shield Association

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:

    Sometimes we see a cloud that’s dragonish,
    A vapor sometimes like a bear or lion,
    A towered citadel, a pendant rock,
    A forked mountain, or blue promontory
    With trees upon ‘t that nod unto the world
    And mock our eyes with air. Thou hast seen these signs;
    They are black vesper’s pageants.
    William Shakespeare (1564–1616)

    Expecting me to grovel,
    she carefully covers both feet
    with the hem of her skirt.
    She pretends to hide
    a coming smile
    and won’t look straight at me.
    When I talk to her,
    she chats with her friend
    in cross tones.
    Even this slim girl’s rising anger
    delights me,
    let alone her deep love.
    Amaru (c. seventh century A.D.)

    Vice is its own reward. It is virtue which, if it is to be marketed with consumer appeal, must carry Green Shield stamps.
    Quentin Crisp (b. 1908)

    The spiritual kinship between Lincoln and Whitman was founded upon their Americanism, their essential Westernism. Whitman had grown up without much formal education; Lincoln had scarcely any education. One had become the notable poet of the day; one the orator of the Gettsyburg Address. It was inevitable that Whitman as a poet should turn with a feeling of kinship to Lincoln, and even without any association or contact feel that Lincoln was his.
    Edgar Lee Masters (1869–1950)