Who they are
Health Care Service Corporation (HCSC) is a Mutual Legal Reserve Company and the largest customer-owned health insurer in the country. It holds the Blue Cross Blue Shield licenses for five states — Illinois, Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Montana. The educational core: “Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas” and “Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois” are the same company, with shared policies and utilization management traveling across the five states.
The behavioral health contracting entity
HCSC administers behavioral health through its own Behavioral Health Care Management program — URAC-accredited since 2012 and covering commercial, Federal Employee Program, and exchange lines across all five states. Arrangements have been shifting in-house: a historical Magellan Healthcare delegation on certain Texas products (Blue Advantage HMO and MyBlue Health) was brought in-house effective January 2026, per BCBSTX's own provider notice. Because the contracting and utilization-management entity varies by product and state — and has been moving in-house — verify the behavioral health entity for the specific product you're contracting.
Levels of care
HCSC contracts across the behavioral health continuum — inpatient psychiatric, detoxification, residential treatment, partial hospitalization (PHP), intensive outpatient (IOP), and outpatient. Covered benefits vary by plan.
Websites & portals
- bcbstx.com
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas member and provider site.
- availity.com
Provider transactions run through Availity Essentials and Blue Access for Providers.
Scope
Illinois, Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Montana.
Notable context
In March 2025, HCSC closed its acquisition of Cigna's Medicare Advantage, Supplemental Benefits, and Part D businesses — relaunched under the HealthSpring brand — giving the five-state Blue a national Medicare footprint. A reminder that a “state Blue” can carry business well beyond its licensed Blue territory.
State guides
Where HCSC / Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas appears in our state-by-state guide to the payer landscape:
Illinois · Montana · New Mexico · Oklahoma · Texas
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