The Blues: A History of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield System

Drawing on extensive company archives, this first complete history of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield system tells the story of America's largest and oldest health care insurer, from its beginnings in the 1930s to the turbulent 1990s. Often regarded as uniquely American because of its grass-roots organization, the Blue Cross and Blue Shield system is a network of independent, locally operated insurance companies whose growth has fluctuated with broader economic, social, and political changes and with the national search for cost-effective health care.