A Brief History

We are the first "Blue" health plan in the nation.

Our history began in 1933, when seven St. Paul hospitals teamed up to form the “Minnesota Hospital Association,” the nation’s first prepaid health care network. An early advertisement depicts a nurse with a blue cross on her sleeve. An iconic logo is born, and we become the first-ever health plan to use the “Blue Cross” name.

Less than a decade later, the name and symbol are adopted by the national Blue Cross Association. “Blue Cross” goes on to become one of most recognized and trusted health care brands in the world.

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota Today

Today, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota is the largest health plan in the state. We have more members, the largest network of providers, and more products and services than any other plan in Minnesota.

Our 2.6 million members can be found in every Minnesota county, all 50 states and on four continents.

Approximately one in three Minnesotans has a Blue Cross membership card.

We are a fiscally responsible, nonprofit Minnesota company. As a nonprofit organization, our resources are used to serve stakeholders, not stockholders.

We contribute more than $250 million in salary and wages annually to the Minnesota economy.

We employ approximately 3,500 people throughout Minnesota. Our offices are located in Eagan, Virginia, Aurora, Duluth, Moorhead, St. Cloud, Mankato and Rochester.

While we are structured as a nonprofit, we still pay our fair share as a responsible company – more than $100 million in taxes and assessments every year.

Approximately 90 cents of every health care dollar collected by Blue Cross is used to pay for members’ health care costs. We have an administrative cost level of less than 10 cents of every dollar – one of the lowest levels in the country.

The Twin Cities Business Journal named Blue Cross among the "Twin Cities Healthiest Employers" in 2013.

Our service center handles more than 3 million calls every year with high satisfaction rates.