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Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas history
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas company history timeline
March 1942 KHSA begins operations.
Who would have believed that more than 75 years later, an organization that began in 1942 with eight customers would one day grow to become a corporation serving approximately 925,000 Kansans and offering hundreds of combinations of hospital and medical-surgical programs.
Summer 1942 Sam J. Barham is named the first president of the company.
1945 Another enabling act passed by the Kansas Legislature creates Kansas Physician's Service.
1, 1946 The first Blue Shield of Kansas contract becomes effective.
1958 BCBSKS reaches and surpasses $100 million mark for total payments to hospitals and doctors for care of its customers.
1966 The Health Care Financing Administration (now known as the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services) selects BCBSKS to serve Medicare beneficiaries in Kansas.
1967 BCBSKS begins to handle the federal Medicaid program for the State of Kansas.
1970 BCBSKS begins paying property tax on its property.
1983 Blue Cross of Kansas Inc. and Blue Shield of Kansas Inc. consolidate into one corporation, and cost containment programs are expanded.
1984 A program known as CAP - Competitive Allowance Program - is introduced and becomes the foundation for the company's reimbursement agreements with Kansas health care providers.
1985 Kansas Group Life Insurance Company is incorporated as a subsidiary of the company.
Helping millions of Americans since 1994.
1995 The company introduces Premier Blue, a health maintenance organization.
The company begins work on complying with provisions of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996.
An agreement is reached in a lawsuit that BCBSKS filed in May 1997 which says BCBSKS will pay $75 million to fund a new Kansas charitable health foundation established by the state.
May 2001 BCBSKS and Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield enter into a definitive agreement to affiliate, a plan which is later approved by the BCBSKS policyholders.
2004 The company announces in May and breaks ground in the fall on a proposed $21 million construction project on its main campus in Topeka, building a new four-story structure and new customer service center.
1, 2004 Advance Insurance Company officially becomes Advance Insurance Company of Kansas, providing life and disability products in the BCBSKS service area.
2005 The Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas Foundation is incorporated in mid-year with a $2 million gift from BCBSKS. The foundation, which is required by law to distribute 5 percent of its assets each year, seeks to fund health-related programs and activities of 501(c)(3) organizations.
2006 Wheatlands Administrative Services, Inc., is created, officially beginning operations in October.
The first major grant program of the foundation, Healthy Habits for Life, was unveiled in 2006.
Louise Norris is an individual health insurance broker who has been writing about health insurance and health reform since 2006.
The two-phase project is completed in early 2007 at a final cost of approximately $25 million.
Wheatlands is a wholly-owned subsidiary of BCBSKS responsible for all current and future Medicare business. (Wheatlands was dissolved in 2008 when BCBSKS no longer served as a Medicare contractor.) Oct.
March 23, 2010 The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is signed into law, marking the beginning of a period of substantial change within the health care and health insurance industries.
In August 2011, Brownback returned a federal grant intended to help the state develop technical infrastructure for running the exchange.
Unveiled in 2013 after a successful pilot program, BlueSTEM is a patient-centered medical home partnership with dozens of professional providers throughout the company's service area.
A new subsidiary, BlueCross BlueShield Kansas Solutions, Inc., was incorporated in 2013 to allow the company additional flexibility in developing competitive benefit plans for the federally-facilitated exchanges and direct sales.
1, 2014) for both the federally-facilitated exchanges and the company's new online sales portal, as well as development of new reimbursement models for providers and wellness programs for members.
During the first open enrollment period, for 2014 coverage, 57,013 Kansans enrolled in qualified health plans through HealthCare.gov.
In 2015, the company entered into its first-ever accountable care organization agreement with a contracting hospital; this initial agreement was made with the Via Christi Healthier You Alliance in Accountable Care in Wichita.
HHS reported that 96,197 Kansans selected private health insurance through HealthCare.gov during the open enrollment period for 2015 coverage.
July 2016 The company unveils its largest community grant program in its history, Pathways to a Healthy Kansas.
During the third open enrollment period, for 2016 coverage, 101,555 people enrolled in private health plans through the Kansas exchange, including new enrollees and renewals.
Blue KC noted that they had lost more than $100 million in the ACA-compliant market through 2016, a level that they deemed unsustainable.
But in June, 2017, Centene announced that they would enter the exchange in Kansas and Missouri, along with Nevada.
Medica joined the exchange in 2017.
Centene already offered Medicaid managed care coverage in Kansas under the name Sunflower State Health Plan, but 2018 was the first year they offered private plans for sale in the exchange.
New Kansas law allows Farm Bureau to sell non-ACA-compliant plans outside the exchange; sales began in October 2019.
The new Farm Bureau plans in Kansas are similar to the plans that became available in Iowa as of 2019, and to the plans that Tennessee has allowed to be sold for many years.
The Trump Administration had again reduced funding for exchange marketing and enrollment assistance, and the elimination of the individual mandate penalty took effect at the start of 2019, potentially deterring some healthy people from enrolling in coverage.
The Kansas Insurance Department maintains a website with a variety of information related to health care reform, including an overview of the state’s health insurance market each year (the 2020 update is available here).
The introduction of the Farm Bureau plans and AHP coverage — with enrollment opportunities that began around the same time as the open enrollment window for ACA-compliant plans — could result in another drop in enrollment for 2020.
Louise Norris Health insurance & health reform authority April 6, 2021
Medicaid expansion legislation again failed in Kansas during the 2021 session.
But enrollment climbed for 2021, with 88,627 people enrolling during the open enrollment period.
But it grew by about 3% for 2021, and is likely to increase further during the COVID-related enrollment window in 2021.
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Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas competitors
| Company name | Founded date | Revenue | Employee size | Job openings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama | 1936 | $4.1B | 5,000 | - |
| Unitedheath Group | 1977 | $1.4B | 1,800 | 140 |
| Cigna | 1982 | $41.6B | 73,800 | 806 |
| Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Mississippi | 1947 | $880.0M | 1,000 | 10 |
| HealthPlan Services | 1970 | $1.1B | 1,051 | 1 |
| Capital Blue Cross | 1937 | $1.5B | 1,900 | 13 |
| Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina | 1933 | $4.7B | 4,397 | 17 |
| Blue Cross & Blue Shield of MN | - | $290,000 | 7 | - |
| Trip Mate | 1988 | $21.0M | 175 | - |
| Miller First Insurance | 1877 | $4.4M | 50 | - |
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas history FAQs
Zippia gives an in-depth look into the details of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas, including salaries, political affiliations, employee data, and more, in order to inform job seekers about Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas. The employee data is based on information from people who have self-reported their past or current employments at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas. The data on this page is also based on data sources collected from public and open data sources on the Internet and other locations, as well as proprietary data we licensed from other companies. Sources of data may include, but are not limited to, the BLS, company filings, estimates based on those filings, H1B filings, and other public and private datasets. While we have made attempts to ensure that the information displayed are correct, Zippia is not responsible for any errors or omissions or for the results obtained from the use of this information. None of the information on this page has been provided or approved by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas. The data presented on this page does not represent the view of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas and its employees or that of Zippia.
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas may also be known as or be related to Blue Cross And Blue Shield Of Kansas, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas Foundation, Inc., Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas Inc and Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas, Inc.