1940s

1944

Unemployment drops to 1.2 percent. Under normal conditions, employers would have lured workers from competitors with higher wages. However, during the World War II years, price and wage controls were strictly enforced. To compete for workers, employers began to offer health insurance benefits, giving rise to the employer-based system -- still largely in place today.

1945

A group of women devised a way to begin offering hospital care coverage to their underserved rural community. With a $5,000 non-interest bearing loan from the Wyoming Farm Bureau, the smallest amount ever used to fund a Blue company, they organized the Wyoming Hospital Service, which later becomes BlueCross BlueShield of Wyoming.

1946

The Blue Cross Commission, the early national organization of Blue Cross Plans, is created.

1947

Associated Medical Care Plans, the first national organization of Blue Shield Plans is formed.

1949

The Inter-Plan Service Benefit Bank is created as a coordinating mechanism to provide coverage for subscribers who were hospitalized away from home.

Timeline

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