Blue Cross/Blue Shield started our capitalistic insurance disaster

Blue Cross and Blue Shield Lead the Way

The American Hospital Association designed Blue Cross as hospitals organized to reduce competition for pre-paid hospital services plans. As a non-profit corporation, Blue Cross was exempt from insurance regulations. Blue Shield was born to organize in the same way for physicians, and the ensuing lucrative market enticed other insurers into the health field when they found commercial insurers could charge lower premiums to healthy people, luring customers away from non-profits obligated to charge the same rate for all.--How Did Health Insurance Begin




Note that other countries started offering healthcare to their citizens through nationalized healthcare. The United States did not.