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The Blue Cross organization can be traced to a hospital prepayment plan for school teachers. Justin Ford Kimball started the plan in 1929 for the Baylor University Hospital in Dallas. The plan provided 21 days of hospitalization in a semi-private room for a prepayment of 50 cents a month.
Plans began forming across the country, each associated with a single hospital. By 1932, community-wide Plans emerged, offering subscribers a choice of hospitals. In 1933, the American Hospital Association began to encourage the development of such Plans and began to regulate and approve them. The same year, the Plan in St. Paul, Minnesota, began using a blue cross, which was officially adopted by the American Hospital Association in 1939.
On June 30, 1972, ownership of the Blue Cross symbol and name passed to the Blue Cross Association and on February 27, 1973, a new symbol was introduced: a blue Greek cross with a stylized human figure in its center.
Our company was incorporated as a health care service contractor on May 5, 1945, when it was known as Washington Hospital Service. On July 8, 1948, the original certificate of registration was issued by the State Insurance Commissioner and authorized the acceptance of prepayment for health care benefits. On March 14, 1969, we changed our name to Blue Cross of Washington and Alaska.
In 1994, Blue Cross of Washington and Alaska affiliated with Medical Service Corporation (MSC) in Spokane, the Blue Shield plan serving Eastern Washington. This partnership was formed to strengthen our companies while still offering local service to the communities in which we work and live.
In June 1998, Blue Cross of Washington and Alaska merged with Medical Service Corporation (MSC) and changed its name to Premera Blue Cross. In eastern Washington, the company is known as MSC incorporated as Premera Blue Cross.
Premera Blue Cross offers traditional and preferred provider health plans, along with an HMO option, vision and dental coverage, and claims administration for self-insured plans. We continue to offer local health care coverage and respond to the special needs of people in Washington and Alaska.
Premera Blue Cross is here and with you meeting the health care coverage needs of more than 1.1 million members.