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Illinois · Nonprofit

BLUE CROSS BLUE SHIELD ASSOCIATION

BLUE CROSS BLUE SHIELD ASSOCIATION (Illinois) receives grants from 4 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,821,181 to it, the largest being THE SCRIPPS RESEARCH INSTITUTE ($1,776,181). 1 of them have funded it in more than one year.

Revenue FY2024
$863M
Funders on record
4
Grants received
$1.8M
Net assets
$332M
1/4 repeat funderspeak grant-dependency 0%
01What it does

What Blue Cross Blue Shield Association does

Mission

The association serves its membership consisting of independent blue cross and blue shield member plans that operate within specific geographic service areas. The association provides a variety of services to member plans and coordinates government services, such as the contract under the federal employee health benefit program (fep), which is the core of the organization's exempt purpose of promoting the common good and general welfare of the community by fostering broadbased health insurance coverage.

As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.

Programs

  1. The blue cross and blue shield association's federal employee program (fep) administers the blue cross and blue shield service benefit plan. Approximately 67.5 percent of all federal employees and retirees who received their health care benefits through the government's federal employees' health benefits program (fehbp) are members of the service benefit plan receiving health coverage through member plans. The service benefit plan has been part of the fehbp since its inception in 1960 and is the largest plan in the program. 2024 was another strong year for the fep, blue cross blue shield fep dental and blue cross blue shield fep vision. We attained historic levels of achievement on several business metrics: enrollment of over 5.6 million members and a record 39 program service accomplishments, consecutive years of open season enrollment growth, and retention remains at a high-level of 99.3 percent.

    $358,449,053 spent$358,729,957 earned by the program
    43% of program spending
  2. As an association of member plans, the association (1) coordinates advertising and communication programs, providing policy and representation of member interests, (2) monitors and fosters the financial stability of all the plans, and (3) supports the ability of the plans to operate efficiently by providing conferences, consulting and miscellaneous services to the plans.

    $140,806,052 spentof which $1,215,062 as grants$156,580,905 earned by the program
    17% of program spending
  3. The bluecard program enables blue plan members to receive the benefits of their insurance contracts while traveling or living in another member plan's geographic service area. Through bluecard, blue plan members are given seamless national access to physicians and hospitals that participate in blue networks. Additionally, the program links participating healthcare providers with the independent blue cross and blue shield plans through a single electronic network for claims processing and reimbursement.

    $241,343,912 spent$231,206,378 earned by the program
    29% of program spending
  4. The association provides optional consulting services and other miscellaneous projects; operation of the national employee benefits administration program that provides a comprehensive group package of employee benefits programs to the plans; a closed private, wide area network that links the computer and information resources of the plans.

    $84,835,396 spent$100,645,107 earned by the program
    10% of program spending

The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $825,434,413.

02The organization over time

The organization over time

Each line starts at 100 in 2017, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2017, 50 means half. The number beside each label in the key is where it ended. The shaded band is where the middle 50% of its peers' revenue would sit, given their growth.

100 = 20172017 Revenue 100 ($592M) Expenses 100 ($593M) Net assets 100 ($99M)2018 Revenue 102 ($606M) Expenses 102 ($603M) Net assets 97 ($96M)2019 Revenue 118 ($696M) Expenses 111 ($659M) Net assets 163 ($161M)2020 Revenue 114 ($673M) Expenses 111 ($661M) Net assets -21 ($-20436677)2021 Revenue 132 ($780M) Expenses 119 ($705M) Net assets 110 ($109M)2022 Revenue 128 ($756M) Expenses 118 ($698M) Net assets 284 ($280M)2023 Revenue 138 ($819M) Expenses 134 ($798M) Net assets 321 ($317M)2024 Revenue 146 ($863M) Expenses 143 ($852M) Net assets 336 ($332M)
'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24
Revenue (146)Expenses (143)Net assets (336)Peer revenue range

Balance sheet

Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2020 to 2021, from $1.1B to $823M (−25%).

$728M
$796M
$872M
$1.1B
$823M
$1.0B
$1.1B
$1.2B
'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24
Total assetsTotal liabilities

How it's funded, over time

Each bar is one year's revenue split into where it came from, and every bar is the same height — these are shares, not amounts, so a year that raised twice as much looks the same size. Hover a bar for the split.

2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
ContributionsProgram revenueInvestmentOther

0% of BLUE CROSS BLUE SHIELD ASSOCIATION’s revenue is contributions — more earned-revenue than three-quarters of its peers (1% for the typical peer).

This organization
Typical peer · 2,211 orgs

Surplus & reserves

Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 1 of the last 8 reported years ran a deficit.

−$1.4M
’17
$3.5M
’18
$37M
’19
$12M
’20
$75M
’21
$58M
’22
$21M
’23
$11M
’24
9.8
months of
reserve

Leadership and staff

The officers, directors, trustees and key employees listed on each return. Joined and no longer listed compare each filing with the year before, matching people by surname and first initial; a year after a gap, or a roster under three people, has no comparison.

Chief executive

Kim Keck

President and CEO

As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.

'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24
Listed7986817576787877
Joined·+21+16+7+15+7+8+10
No longer listed·142113145811
03Who funds it

Who funds it, year by year

2019 → 2023: the base held at 1 funder, grant income rose $19k → $111k.

Funder
'19
'21
'22
'23
'24*
'25*
total
funders
1
1
1
1
1
1

From the IRS filings of BLUE CROSS BLUE SHIELD ASSOCIATION’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 3 of 4 funders by total. Association, not causation. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.

How concentrated its funding is

BLUE CROSS BLUE SHIELD ASSOCIATION leans on a few funders — its largest provides 98% of grant income and the top three 100%; half comes from just 1 funder.

the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left

100% of the income these shares are computed over arrives through pass-through sponsors or from payers whose filings do not say what kind of payment it is. Concentration is still measured over all of it, because the money is real; what it does not support is a claim about how many institutions have chosen to fund BLUE CROSS BLUE SHIELD ASSOCIATION.

98%
largest funder
100%
top three
~1
effective funders

Largest funder’s share by year: 2019 100% · 2021 100% · 2022 100% · 2023 100% — broadly stable.

“Effective funders” = inverse Herfindahl index (1 / Σ shareᵢ²) — the number of equal-sized funders that would give the same concentration. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.

Where its funders are

BLUE CROSS BLUE SHIELD ASSOCIATION draws 100% of its grant income from funders outside Illinois, across 3 states in all.

WI
MA
CA

In-state vs out-of-state, by year

’19
’21
’22
’23
Illinois out of state home

Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.

04Its place in the field

Against its field

BLUE CROSS BLUE SHIELD ASSOCIATION holds deeper cash reserves than three-quarters of the 2,075 health nonprofits its size.

Operating margin1% · below the median
Months of reserve9.8mo · top quartile
Revenue growth (annualized)6% · below the median

this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 2,075 health nonprofits over $100M, FY2024

Organizations like BLUE CROSS BLUE SHIELD ASSOCIATION

Organizations whose mission and program text most resemble this one, by semantic similarity over every organization in the US filings — the closest peers, and often the clearest route to shared or prospective funders.

In Illinois

Nationally

05Profile & governance

Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.

Where the money goes

97% of spending goes to programs.

Program 97%Management 3%Fundraising 0%

Governance

34
board members
97%
independent
✓Conflict-of-interest policy✓Whistleblower policy✓Document retention✓Board reviewed the 990✓Audited financials

Footprint & structure

Files a return copy in 1 state

IL

Part of a family of 3 related entities

  • Health Services Foundation · exempt
  • Bc and Bs Foundation on Health Care · exempt
  • Blue Cross Blue Shield Benefit Corp · corp_trust

Screen this organization

A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for BLUE CROSS BLUE SHIELD ASSOCIATION: IRS status (Business Master File, Publication 78, auto-revocation), the OFAC sanctions lists, the Internal Revenue Bulletin, and California registration, with the Rev. Proc. 2018-32 §8.01 reliance elements stated element by element. Generated from the current files at the moment you download it.

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Screens are triage, not determinations; a source that cannot be read reports not screened, never clear. Screen this nonprofit · How the screen works · on the API as GET /api/screening/{ein}?format=pdf

Questions and answers

Who funds BLUE CROSS BLUE SHIELD ASSOCIATION?
BLUE CROSS BLUE SHIELD ASSOCIATION (Illinois) receives grants from 4 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,821,181 to it, the largest being THE SCRIPPS RESEARCH INSTITUTE ($1,776,181). 1 of them have funded it in more than one year.
How many funders does BLUE CROSS BLUE SHIELD ASSOCIATION have?
IRS filings report 4 organizations giving $1,821,181 in grants to BLUE CROSS BLUE SHIELD ASSOCIATION, 1 of which have funded it in more than one year.
Who is the largest funder of BLUE CROSS BLUE SHIELD ASSOCIATION?
THE SCRIPPS RESEARCH INSTITUTE is the largest funder on record, with $1,776,181 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
How can an organization like BLUE CROSS BLUE SHIELD ASSOCIATION find more funders?
Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Illinois. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.

These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2024 (financials across 2017–2024), and the filings of 4 funders that report grants to it. “On record” means captured in the filings we have parsed — a funder that does not e-file, or whose grant detail is not itemized, will not appear. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind. Trends on this page end at FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving; later years are shown and marked, and move no figure. Data on this page was exported October 14, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing