Baton Rouge / Louisiana / United States
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana began in 1934 in a one-room office in New Orleans when representatives of six area hospitals got together and formed the Hospital Service Association of New Orleans, a nonprofit, mutual insurer that offered a form of prepaid hospital care. The Hospital Service Association of New Orleans became licensed as Blue Cross of Greater New Orleans in 1958. On Jan. 1, 1985, the company began doing business as Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana to reflect the fact that both hospital and physician coverage were provided by one plan. The company created Southern National Life Insurance Company, a wholly owned subsidiary, in 1994. In 1996, the company reactivated its subsidiary HMO Louisiana, which offers managed care products. With its corporate headquarters in Baton Rouge, La., Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana employs nearly 1,400 Louisianans.
