Blue Cross Blue Shield

The Story Behind Blue Cross Blue Shield

2006-08-24T17:14:00.000-07:00

Developed in 1929 by a man named Justin Ford Kimball, Blue Cross was an association of health insurance plans. It was in 1982, after Blue Cross had originally lost its affiliation with the American Hospital Association, that they merged with National Association of Blue Shield Plans to form Blue Cross Blue Shield.

Technically, Blue Cross Blue Shield is a trade association for a series of locally operated plans. There are 40 local member companies of Blue Cross Blue Shiled that operate under the umbrella. In addition, the company, or rather its local affiliates, act as Social Security administrators. Many would say, in fact, that managed health care in the United States is very closely linked to the Blue Cross Blue Shield design.

Blue Cross Blue Shield’s operating headquarters are located in Chicago Illinois and in Washington D.C. The company employs about 850 people in its headquarters. The Member Blue Plans part of the company employs over 15,000 people, making it one of the 20 largest employers in the United States.

About a third of all Americans, including those in Puerto Rico, or 93 million Americans, are being provided health care from Blue Cross Blue Shield. Their insurance plans reach a variety of people through a variety of products including those for small business, large corporations, or private individuals.

Since the inception of Medicare by the US government in 1965, Blue Cross Blue Shield has helped to process the claims and payments. In 2003, in fact, the company’s Medicare contractors processed about 90 percent of the Medicare claims from hospitals and about 72 percent of those from physicians and practitioners in the health field.

The Blue Card Program is one that links healthcare providers and each individual Blue Plan in the country through one electronic network for both claims processing and reimbursement. This allows them to serve large nationally known corporations like Microsoft, Xerox, and UPS. Over half of the fortune 500 companies are covered by Blue Cross Blue Shield.

The company also includes a very comprehensive website. There, you can find out more about the history of the company, locations for the 40 national member companies that are in line with Blue Card Program, and you can also look up doctors and hospitals on the Blue Card Program. There is contacts information and even a very comprehensive frequently asked questions page that is helpful. Press releases are easy to find, as is the glossary, which is very helpful if you are unfamiliar with insurance and health care related vocabulary. Overall, the website is easy to navigate, easy to read, and most importantly it is comprehensive and helpful.

If you are wondering about healthcare options, then you should at the very least know who Blue Cross Blue Shield is. Through the information available here or at there website, you will be able to make educated decisions on whether or not their healthcare is right for you or your company.

Christopher M. Luck has over 15 years experience in working in upper management at Blue Cross Blue Sheildand is now offering his free professional Health Advice to the public. If you are at all interested in Christopher's health insurance advice, tips, or secrets, you can visit his health insurance blog.

Enhanced Online Features at Blue Cross Blue Shield Help You

2006-08-13T18:34:00.000-07:00

Blue Cross/Blue Shield has been helping Americans receive affordable healthcare for decades. Without its existence, millions of hard-working American citizens would not receive the kind of care and treatment they deserve, especially after decades of paying taxes and helping to grow this great and prosperous nation.

Like many traditional socially-centered organizations, Blue Cross/Blue Shield has embraced the new technologies developed in recent years. In an effort to provide better service to Blue Cross/Blue Shield members, the organization has enhanced its website and now offers more services for people to use.

HealthIssues.com is one of the new online features now available at Blue Cross/Blue Shield. Surfers can access useful newsletters from the past year and the current one so that they may stay current with potential health issues and ways of dealing with them. The service can be initiated and terminated at any time. While active, members will receive a newsletter via e-mail every month with a host of useful information that is of vital importance to anyone concerned about their health. Health issues such as the avian flu epidemic sweeping Asia are just some of the hot topics covered in newsletters.

One of the other major improvements to the online website for Blue Cross/Blue Shield has to do with customer service. What was once formerly known as the “Contact Us” portion of the website has been changed to “Customer Service”. The enhancements to this section were made primarily due to overwhelming demand by Blue Cross/Blue Shield members.

One of the time-saving and beneficial advantages offered by the new service is to allow members to change the spelling of their name on official Blue Cross/Blue Shield documentation. What once was a time consuming task bogged down by red tape, this simple but essential service speeds up the correction of mistakes and ensures continuation of benefits without worry of interruption. The new online service also allows people to change date-of-birth and social security information as well.

The timely and useful enhancements to the Blue Cross/Blue Shield customer service section also allow members to access information about their individual enrollment plans to check for accuracy and updates to coverage. Also, at times when the service area for a local Plan is not available, members may access records without leaving the comfort of their own home.

Unfortunately, members cannot access their information at all times of the day or night. Access is only permitted at present on Monday thru Saturday, 7 a.m. – 9 p.m., EST. But, for persons that utilize the services during these hours, any changes made to their personal information will be posted and applied during the next business day. Plans are currently in the works to expand hours of access so that the website becomes even more convenient and useful to members.

Although not all transactions can be conducted online, the truth is that the new additions to the online services offered by Blue Cross/Blue Shield have made the entire process far more accessible and convenient for members. The newsletter provides members with critical healthcare information while the enhancements to customer service reduce waiting time and increase the ease of use for services.

For more information on Blue Cross Blue Shield, visit http://www.bluecrossblueshieldinfo.com.

How The Blue Cross Works

2006-08-09T16:10:00.000-07:00

The Blue Cross is, in actuality, not a single company, but is instead a large conglomeration of companies that make up the Blue Cross Group of companies. These businesses that make up the Blue Cross include the leading companies with the highest financial stability in providing several medical services, such as travel insurance, personal accident insurance, and medical insurance, as well as Third Party Administered Plans for healthcare services, and many more similar products.

The grouping of companies under the Blue Cross has a solid experience of over fifty years. They pride themselves on their ability to maintain a steady level of excellence, while still giving all of their many clients comprehensive and practical services.

The commitment of Blue Cross, according to their own website, is to continually improve their own customer service, to ensure that the services that they provide their customers are always getting better. With the track record worthy of boasting, and a competent support staff, they feel confident that they are always equipped to provide customers will immediate service at high levels at any given time.

This level of service is especially important in the health industry. Certainly, we all expect good customer service from any company with which we do business, but with the utter basic importance of proper health services, companies like the Blue Cross allow us a bit more security and peace of mind in a world that seems to have lost a lot of its own stability and comfort. It is exactly that kind of assurance that the Blue Cross aims to give its clients.

Furthermore, the Blue Cross excels in its ability to provide a multitude of services at a high level, instead of just one. This convenience is important, especially when it comes to your health. When you are in need of health services, there is nothing more trying than having to deal with several different companies, all with their different requirements, forms, and levels of service. Blue Cross gives you everything in once place, with a standard level of high service, and the assurance that they’re easy to reach and will always be there when you need them.

Blue Cross has become the envy of the health industry, with its proud history, stable present, and bright future. It is an example of what proper health care services should look like in today’s level of quality and technology. It is refreshing to know that a company such as Blue Cross is out there to take care of millions throughout North America.

Richard Cussons is a prolific and diverse writer. You will find out more about The Blue Cross at Blue Cross Resources.

Blue Cross Insurance - Providing Health Insurance For One Third Of All Americans

2006-08-02T15:04:00.000-07:00

Blue Cross insurance was the creation of Justin Ford Kimball who, in 1929, devised a plan to provide hospital care for school teachers in Dallas. The plan provided teachers with cover for up to twenty one days in hospitalization each year for a premium of six dollars.

From these humble beginnings the plan spread, first throughout Dallas and other areas of Texas and then nationwide, providing cover for employees across an ever widening range of employment.

Just ten years after it was born the Blue Cross symbol was adopted by the American Hospital Association for plans that met certain standards and this formal recognition provided Blue Cross insurance with a springboard for further growth.

In 1960 the growth in popularity of Blue Cross was such that the Blue Cross Association superseded the American Hospital Association commission and some twelve years later severed all ties with the commission.

Finally, in 1982, the Blue Cross Association merged with the National Association of Blue Shield Plans and the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association we know today was formed.

The Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association is in effect a trade association for some thirty eight independent and locally, or regionally, operated Blue Cross and Blue Shield Plans. These together provide cover throughout the United States, as well as in the Canadian province, for millions of Americans (it is estimated that one in three Americans now carry a Blue Cross and Blue Shield card) and makes Blue Cross and Blue Shield the country's largest healthcare provider.

But Blue Cross and Blue Shield does much more than simply provide medical insurance cover on a group and individual basis.

The Association is now also the administrator for Social Security in a large number of states and often provides group cover for state government employees and for employees of the Federal government. As a result, officials within Blue Cross and Blue Shield work closely with government health policy makers at the very top levels of government and the Association plays a significant part in influencing the direction of government health policy.

It is amazing to think that a plan originally devised simply to provide cover for hospital bills for a small group of school teachers in Dallas has now developed not only into a nationwide plan providing cover for just about anything you can imagine from critical illness through long-term care, disability, life cover, dental cover, pharmacy cover and even cover for worldwide travel, but has also spawned an organization that is at the very heart of the healthcare system of the United States.

With such phenomenal growth in the past seventy five years and such a strong position today one can only imagine that Blue Cross and Blue Shield will continue to grow in the years ahead proving yet more and more cover for an ever growing number of customers.

To learn more about Blue Cross and Blue Shield and Blue Cross insurance please visit Blue Cross Insurance Today.

Blue Cross Blue Shield

2006-07-27T17:36:00.000-07:00

The Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association is the national trade organization that associates 38 independent regional health insurance companies in the United States and Canada. It was formed in the 1982 fusion of the Blue Cross Association and the National Association of Blue Shield Plans that are founded basically in Chicago, Illinois. Both organizations trace their histories to health plans that were created around the same time in two different parts of the U.S. The progression of managed health care in the United States is closely linked to the designs of Blue Cross-Blue Shield.

Blue Cross and Blue Shield Plans are presenting Medicare Advantage and Medicare Prescription Drug Plans in local markets across the country. Blue Cross and Blue Cross of California are being scrutinized by California regulators after 10 lawsuits were filed against Blue Cross in March 2006 claiming that the company had not acted in a good loyalty to thwart fraud and it also had a special department specifically set up to methodically look for any justification to reject coverage for large claims.

When the company issues a medical insurance policy, the person insured thinks he or she has medical coverage and relies on it and the person can find out other coverage if the company has a legitimate reason for denying coverage and tells the person at the time of the insurance application. If the insurance company doesn’t review applications until claims are filed and then retroactively cancels the policies, the people insured by the company find themselves without insurance and prone for all the medical expenses they thought were covered by their medical insurance. This is a very serious injury caused by the insurance company’s bad faith failure to assess the application in a timely manner.

Blue Cross offers the Healthy Families Programme in all 58 California counties, as a Health Management Organization (HMO) product in 11 counties and as an Exclusive Provider Organization (EPO) product in the remainder of counties. Blue Cross of California is the largest health coverage provider with more than 125.000 members, nearly 40 percent of the total programme membership and it has approximately 323.000 children contributing in the Healthy Families Programme statewide.

Blue Cross of California, with 5.4 million medical members, is the California operating auxiliary of Well Point Health Networks Inc. Well Point serves the health care needs of more than 7.6 million medical and approximately 34 million specialty members nationally. Well Point offers a broad spectrum of quality network-based health products including open access PPO, POS and hybrid products, and HMO and specialty products. Specialty products include dental, vision, mental health, life and disability insurance, long term care insurance, pharmacy benefit management, utilization management, flexible spending accounts, COBRA administration, and Medicare supplements.

Tamilselvi is a SEO copywriter for forhealthplans.com. She has written many articles in various topics. For more information visit http://www.forhealthplans.com She can be reached at tamil@searchenginegenie.com

California Blue Cross Health Insurance – An Overview

2006-07-21T11:19:00.000-07:00

Blue Cross of California, one of the state’s largest and most respected healthcare providers, has been in business for over 60 years. As times have changed, so has the company – making sure the almost 7 million people they serve get adequate health insurance.

The numbers are impressive – Blue Cross of California boasts more than 40,000 preferred provider physicians, 27,000 HMO physicians, and almost 4,000 vision providers. The company has over 400 participating hospitals and medical facilities. Blue Cross employs around 6500 employees statewide.

Not surprisingly, Blue Cross offers a wide range of plans and services ranging from several different medical and dental plans to disability and life insurance. Their wide range of plans, services and deductibles means a health plan for everybody, regardless of income or situation. They also offer several dental and vision plans as well as the workers’ compensation coverage, as required under state law.

Blue cross also offers health insurance under its “tonik health” subsidiary, aimed at young active people and priced with several different deductible plans offered.

Obtaining prescription drugs is inexpensive and convenient under most Blue Cross plans. The company administers prescription drugs and medication through its subsidiary company called Wellpoint. The company also offers a diverse array of specialist insurance products such as COBRA coverage, flexible spending accounts and pharmacy benefit management.

Blue Cross of California has a strong track record of innovation, and is proud of its ability to offer products to a diverse population – individuals, businesses of all sizes and seniors. They also provide health insurance for seniors and others eligible for state health insurance.

They also have a proud record of collaboration with education institutions and local organizations in helping with various health-related research projects. Blue Cross recently won a prestigious award from the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) for its work in helping asthma sufferers – it’s the only health plan to receive such an award.

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Is Blue Cross And Blue Shield Health Insurance Right For Me?

2006-07-16T14:47:00.000-07:00

You have plenty of options when choosing a family insurance plan that suits your needs. Whether choosing a plan through an employer or through a private company, you will have a choice at what type of family Blue Shield plan is right for you. You have the option of PPO, HMO, and POS insurance plans that fit almost all budgets. The size of your co-pay will determine how much you pay in monthly coverage fees and can be raised or lowed depending on your family’s medical needs.

For those families who do not have any chronic medical needs, the Blue Shield POS or PPO plans can be highly affordable and flexible. This plan offers the carrier the option of how much of a deductible they are willing to pay per year. Deductibles under the family Blue Shield insurance plans can range from $250-$2500, depending on what the buyer can afford each month for coverage. Most Blue Shield, PPO and POS plans that are most popular carry a $1000 deductible. This makes monthly coverage fees and co-pays affordable as well as the deductible itself.

If you or a member of your family needs more chronic or consistent medical attention, the family Blue Shield HMO insurance plan may be a better deal. This type of plan covers your primary physician in the network and all your referrals to specialists in the network as well. You will also not have to meet a deductible and have a smaller co-pay. The difference lies in a slightly higher monthly coverage fee. For those who need a lot of medical coverage more regularly the HMO is the better plan for them.

When choosing the right insurance plan, be sure to not only know what your medical needs are, but your budget as well. It is important to pick a plan that offers you the most services at the best cost. If your family Blue Shield plan is through your employer you will most likely not be able to choose the type, but will get a lower cost. If you are purchasing your plan through a private company you will be more able to choose options that best suit your family’s individual needs at a price that is affordable for you. As your needs and financial situations change, you will be able to modify your family Blue Shield plan. Choosing the right insurance plan may not always be easy, but choosing a family Blue Shield plan will be beneficial and serve your family well.

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