Our History

Blue Cross began as the Associated Hospital Service Corporation of Massachusetts, founded by a group of community-minded business leaders in 1937. Designed to spread the cost of hospital treatment among a large group of employed persons, the nonprofit organization obtained a charter in March and opened its doors in September. Upon its opening, the Corporation was the 26th plan of its kind in the United States, differing from others in its offering of statewide coverage. In 1939, the name Blue Cross was officially adopted by the American Hospital Association as the national symbol of the Hospital Service movement.

Blue Shield of Massachusetts was established in 1941, as a result of physician interest in the prepayment concept of financing health care. Unique in that it paid for covered services only with participating physicians, the Blue Shield Plan quickly produced widespread physician participation.

Over the years, "Blue Cross" and "Blue Shield of Massachusetts" continued to grow and adapt to the needs of consumers, offering ever-increasing comprehensive coverage. In 1988, the two separate Blues organizations merged to become Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Massachusetts, Inc., and continued as part of a national network of affiliated plans, providing its members with access to the widest selection of the most respected physicians and best hospitals in the country.

In 1992, we launched our premier product, HMO Blue^®, which offered a statewide, managed care network of doctors to residents of Massachusetts. Offered as a transition from traditional health insurance to managed care, this product reflected a change that was in line with the interests of the emerging market.

In 2001, we had the exceptional opportunity to reconnect to our original charter and to endow our own foundation — the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation. The Foundation is committed to expanding high-quality health care access to the underserved residents of Massachusetts.

To enhance our ability to provide affordable, quality health care, we transferred our insured HMO line of business to a separate, not-for-profit subsidiary in January of 2005. The subsidiary, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Massachusetts HMO Blue, Inc., offers existing insured HMO plans: HMO Blue^® (including non-group plans), HMO Blue New England, Blue Choice^® (in-network), Blue Choice New England (in-network), Access Blue^TM, and Managed Blue for Seniors^TM.

Today, headquartered in Boston, we provide coverage to three million members in Massachusetts. Consistently recognized for standards of service excellence that are among the highest in the nation, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts is the choice for health care consumers seeking reliable and high quality health care coverage. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association.