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Podcast: Voices of Oklahoma
Episode: Blue Cross Blue Shield
Description: The Oklahoma plan for Group Hospital Services of Oklahoma opened its doors in the Tulsa Loan building at 4th and Main, March 15, 1940. The plan would soon adopt the Blue Cross name and logo. The interest in pre-paid hospital care had actually started in 1929 with a group of 1,500 school teachers in Dallas who contracted with Baylor Medical Center. These plans evolved as a result of the Great Depression.In 1939, Oklahoma doctors went to Dallas to investigate this new form of paying for health care costs. The following year, Group Hospital Services of Oklahoma was born. The state headquarters was...