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Company History

Independence Blue Cross began in 1938 as the Associated Hospital Service of Philadelphia — it was the first prepaid hospitalization plan in the region. Philadelphia Mayor S. Davis Wilson enrolled as the first subscriber, and Independence Hall became the first employer group to purchase coverage.

At the end of our first year, we had more than 160,000 subscribers. By 1958, we employed 600 people, contracted with 94 hospitals, and handled 3,000 subscriber inquiries a day. In 1988, we began doing business as Independence Blue Cross.

Today, we are the region’s largest health insurer with more than 2.6 million members locally, and 3.4 million overall including subsidiaries and affiliates.