Blue Shield of California is a not-for-profit health plan founded in 1939 and based in San Francisco

San Francisco, California

San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...

, California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

. The organization serves over 3.4 million health plan members and nearly 65,000 physicians across the state. Blue Shield of California was founded by the California Medical Association

California Medical Association

The California Medical Association is a professional organization representing more than 35,000 physicians in the state of California. The organization was founded in 1856 and is a member of the American Medical Association.-Audio-Digest Foundation:...

.

History

Blue Shield of California, then known as California Physicians' Service, was created by the California Medical Association on December 18, 1938, and was incorporated on February 2, 1939. The organization began offering coverage on March 6 of that same year. In 1946, the organization was among a founder of the National Association of Blue Shield Plans, which later became the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association

Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association

The Blue Cross Blue Shield Association is a federation of 39 separate health insurance organizations and companies in the United States. Combined, they directly or indirectly provide health insurance to over 100 million Americans. The history of Blue Cross dates back to 1929, while the history of...

. Today, Blue Shield of California is an independent licensee of the national association.

The Blue Shield of California health plan was the first in the nation to offer catastrophic coverage in 1950, provide coverage for a heart transplant in 1984, offer online benefit and enrollment information in 1996, and offer an online enrollment system for agents in 1998. In 2006, the National Committee for Quality Assurance

National Committee for Quality Assurance

The National Committee for Quality Assurance is an independent 501 non-profit organization in the United States designed to improve health care quality. It was established in 1990 with support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. NCQA manages voluntary accreditation programs for individual...

, commonly referred to as NCQA, recognized Blue Shield as an "excellent" health plan for service and clinical quality.

Health reform

In 2002, Blue Shield of California became the first health insurer in the country to propose a specific plan for universal health coverage. Called "Universal Coverage, Universal Responsibility," the proposal would require individuals, employers, and government to share responsibility for achieving universal coverage.

Quality of care

In the California Healthcare Quality Report Card 2011 Edition, Blue Shield of California received 3 out of 4 stars in Meeting National Standards of Care.

External links

• Blue Shield of California