Premera Blue Cross

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Premera Blue Cross is a nonprofit Blue Cross Blue Shield licensed health insurance company based in Mountlake Terrace, Washington. It sells health insurance plans under the Blue Cross license in Washington state except Clark County and under both the Blue Cross and Blue Shield licenses in Alaska. It also has smaller health insurance operations in Washington, Oregon, and Arizona under the Lifewise brand. Premera's professional services subsidiary, Calypso, assists health insurers in prevention and recovery of provider overpayments.

Premera was founded as Washington Hospital Service on May 5, 1945, and began operating in Alaska in 1957. On March 14 1969, the company's name was changed to Blue Cross of Washington and Alaska.

In 1994, Blue Cross of Washington and Alaska affiliated with Spokane's Medical Service Corporation, which had been founded in November 1933. In June 1998, the two organizations merged under the name Premera Blue Cross.

In 2002, Premera's executives first informed Washington commissioner Mike Kreidler of their intent to convert from a non-profit to a for-profit joint-stock company. After five years, the request was officially ended on March 5, 2007.