Ontario Blue Cross

Ontario Blue Cross is a registered trademark in Health Insurance. It is owned by Canassurance Hospital Service Association,[1] a member of the Canadian Association of Blue Cross Plans.[2]

Ontario Blue Cross
Ontario Blue Cross Logo
Product typeHealth Insurance and Travel Insurance
OwnerCanassurance Hospital Service Association
Introduced1941 (1941)
MarketsOntario
Previous ownersOntario Hospital Association
Websiteon.bluecross.ca

History

The Blue Cross name was introduced in Ontario in 1941 by the Ontario Hospital Association (OHA). Despite the Blue Cross plan being part of the Blue Cross movement, it remained an independent division of the OHA. The Blue Cross plan was backed by the Ontario government as a vehicle to pay for health care costs in hospitals in the province.[3]

This plan met with immediate success resulting in 2.25 million members by 1958. With the introduction of the Ontario Hospital Insurance Plan by the Ontario government in 1959, Blue Cross had to shift its focus to offer prepayment options for semi-private care, extended health care, prescription drugs, dental care, and other benefits. These voluntary and non-profit plans covered 3.5 million Ontarians by 1970.[4]

From 1985 to 1995, Blue Cross repositioned itself due to political changes causing large losses. This led the OHA to sell its Blue Cross assets to Liberty Mutual Insurance in March 1995.[5] The use of the name Ontario Blue Cross, however, was not part of the sale of assets, and remained under the ownership of the Canadian Association of Blue Cross Plans (CABCP). The same year, the CABCP reopened offices in Ontario under the Ontario Blue Cross name.[6] In May 1999, the Canassurance Hospital Service Association purchased Ontario Blue Cross.[7]

References
  1. 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.
  2. Intellectual property databases. "Canadian Trademarks Database", Government of Canada, 11 June 2019. Retrieved on 21 June 2019.
  3. Paul, A Robert. "One Hundred Twenty Years of Canadian Academic Medicine: How Michael Porter Became the New Abraham Flexner", pp.188-190, University of Toronto, Institute of Health Policy Management and Evaluation, 2018. Retrieved on 15 July 2019.
  4. Canadian Museum of History. "Ontario and Manitoba: Voluntary Non-Profit or Commercial Plans?", The History of Health Care in Canada 1914-2007, 11 June 2011. Retrieved on 15 July 2019.
  5. NewsWatch Canada. "#2 American-Style Health Care Coming To Canada", c/o School of Communication, Simon Fraser University. Retrieved on 25 June 2019.
  6. Korcok, Milan. "Takeover of Ontario Blue Cross may be sign MDs will soon face US-style managed care",Canadian Medical Association Journal, 1995, volume 152, no 10. Retrieved on 15 July 2019.
  7. Ontario Blue Cross. "Our history". Retrieved on 21 June 2019.
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