Wisconsin Blues' conversion: the privatization of a health insurer

Wisconsin Blue Cross was chartered in 1939 as a "charitable and benevolent corporation" to cover hospitalization costs at a time when most Americans did not have health insurance. In order to promote the protection that insurance afforded, the Wisconsin legislature exempted the company from most state and local taxes. During World War II, the federal government created tax deductions for both employers and employees, which created new demand for health insurance. The company extended its coverage to physicians' services and, as Blue Cross Blue Shield United of Wisconsin (BCBSUW), became the state's largest health insurer. In 1965, when Medicare and Medicaid further extended health coverage to the elderly, disabled, and indigent, the company took on the additional activity of administering those benefits on behalf of the government. The surge in demand for health care led to inflation in health costs in the 1970s. Many in the insurance industry and government felt this inflation could be controlled through the extension of market competition among insurers. They therefore proposed abandoning their tax exemptions in exchange for the right to operate as for-profit corporations. As a condition of this transformation, the state government required that BCBSUW create charitable foundations to benefit medical education and public health. After privatization, however, the for-profit successors of BCBSUW failed to control both medical costs and company administrative expenses. A substantial share of the profits went to their executives.