Short answers, pulled from the story.
Independence Blue Cross was founded in 1938 as the Associated Hospital Service of Philadelphia, offering the first prepaid hospitalization plan in the Philadelphia region. It adopted the name Blue Cross of Greater Philadelphia in 1964 and began operating as Independence Blue Cross in 1988.
Philadelphia Mayor S. Davis Wilson enrolled as the first member of the Associated Hospital Service of Philadelphia, the organization that became Independence Blue Cross. Independence Hall was the first employer group to purchase coverage.
Independence Blue Cross serves seven million members nationwide. It is the largest health insurer in the Philadelphia area and employs more than 10,000 people.
The Independence Blue Cross provider network includes nearly 180 area hospitals and more than 60,000 physicians and other health care professionals.
The Independence Blue Cross Foundation is a private, charitable foundation launched in October 2011 with a mission to transform health care through innovation in the communities it serves. By the end of 2024, it will have awarded more than $85 million in grants to nonprofits and research improving health in southeastern Pennsylvania.
Independence Blue Cross subsidiaries and affiliates include QCC Insurance Company, Keystone Health Plan East, Independence Administrators, AmeriHealth, AmeriHealth Caritas programs across multiple states, Tandigm Health, PerformCare in New Jersey, and Blue Cross Complete of Michigan, a joint venture with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan.