On Dec. 20, 1929, mere weeks after the Great Stock Market Crash and during one of the worst winters Texas had ever seen, Justin Ford Kimball began operating the Group Hospitalization Plan at Baylor University Hospital in Dallas. This type of plan eventually led to the idea of health insurance on which the national Blue Cross movement was founded.

In 2019, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas (BCBSTX) celebrates nine decades of contributing to public health.