Canassurance Hospital Service Association

The Canassurance Hospital Service Association, also called Blue Cross Canassurance, is a not-for-profit health insurance provider in Canada.[2] It is a member of the Canadian Association of Blue Cross Plans, operating in Ontario under the brand Ontario Blue Cross and in Quebec as Québec Blue Cross (French: Croix Bleue du Québec).[3][4]

Canassurance Hospital Service Association
Blue Cross Canassurance
TypeNonprofit corporation
IndustryHealth insurance
Founded1942
Headquarters
Montreal, Québec
ProductsHealth and dental insurance
Travel Insurance
Life and Disability Insurance
BrandsOntario Blue Cross
Québec Blue Cross
Number of employees
Websiteqc.bluecross.ca
on.bluecross.ca

It also provides travel assistance through its subsidiary CanAssistance Inc.[5]

History

The Canassurance Hospital Service Association was founded in 1942 under the name Quebec Hospital Service Association by a group of hospital directors and business people. The goal of the association was to provide workers with access to health services at a reasonable cost through an advanced reimbursement plan. Later, with the implementation of a public health system (1957) and the Régie de l'assurance maladie du Québec (1969), Blue Cross changed its plans to complement the healthcare public system.[6]

By 1970, the Quebec Hospital Service Association had more than 1 million members throughout the province. At that time, private insurance plans were used as an argument by the Quebec administration to counterweight the Canadian government's pressure for a unique national healthcare program. For the Premier of Quebec, Maurice Duplessis, healthcare represented a provincial area of expertise. The following administrations have maintained the position that national standards would not necessarily meet local needs.[7]

The Quebec Hospital Service Association changed its name in 1999 to Canassurance Hospital Service Association[8] (Blue Cross Canassurance) and provides services in Ontario and Quebec.[9]

Community Initiatives

Being a not-for-profit health insurance provider, Blue Cross Canassurance reinvests in research and development as well as into the community by supporting a variety of causes linked to health and wellness.[10]

Subsidiaries
  • Canassurance Financial Corporation[1]
  • Canassurance Insurance Company[1]
  • CanAssistance Inc.[1]

References
  1. Fiche Entreprise. "Croix Bleue Canassurance", Les Affaires. Retrieved on July 18 2019.
  2. Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association (CLHIA). "Canadian Life and Health Insurance Facts, 2014 edition", page 24. Retrieved on 25 June 2019.
  3. Financial Services Commission of Ontario. "Companies registered under the Prepaid Hospital and Medical Services Act as of April 1, 2019", Ontario, 1 April 2019. Retrieved on 21 June 2019.
  4. Autorité des marchés financiers. "Register - Insurers, Deposit institutions and Trust companies", Quebec, 24 June 2019. Retrieved on 26 June 2019.
  5. CanAssistance. "About", 2018. Retrieved on 21 June 2019.
  6. François Guérard and Yvan Rousseau "Le marché de la maladie - Soins hospitaliers et assurances au Québec, 1939-1961", Revue d'histoire de l'Amérique française, volume 59, # 3, Winter 2006. Retrieved on 25 June 2019.
  7. Canadian Museum of History. "Quebec: Pas une province comme les autres?", The History of Health Care in Canada 1914-2007, 11 June 2011. Retrieved on 21 June 2019.
  8. "Bill 207 (Private) An Act to amend the Act to incorporate the Quebec Hospital Service Association" (PDF). Québec Official Publisher. June 14, 2002. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2003-03-13. Retrieved 2020-06-24.
  9. Quebec Blue Cross. "Our history". Retrieved on 21 June 2019.
  10. Blue Cross Canassurance. "2018 Annual Report", pages 18-21, 2018. Retrieved on 21 June 2019.
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