MANNIX, JOHN R. (4 June 1902-9 Feb. 1990), a national consultant in health care, was inducted into the National Health Care Hall of Fame in Philadelphia (1989) for, among other contributions, pioneering prepaid health service in the United States. Mannix conceived the idea of prepaid hospital insurance, a program which later developed into Blue Cross and Blue Shield (see BLUE CROSS OF NORTHEAST OHIO, BLUE CROSS AND BLUE SHIELD OF OHIO). Mannix, raised in Cleveland, was born to Henry H. and Cecelia Mannix, the oldest of 7 children. Family medical bills led to financial troubles, which triggered Mannix to create a different payment system. While working at MT. SINAI MEDICAL CENTER as a youth, Mannix suggested the idea of prepaid medical insurance. He initiated the idea at Elyria Memorial Hospital, where he became administrator in 1926, at 24 years of age. Appointed assistant director of UNIVERSITY HOSPITALS in 1930, 2 years later Mannix convinced the Cleveland Hospital Council to study prepaid hospital care. The study resulted in the creation of the CLEVELAND HOSPITAL SERVICE ASSOCIATION (1934), modeled across the United States. Mannix later created a statewide Blue Cross plan in both Michigan (1939), enhancing national enrollment by wooing auto manufacturers, and Illinois (1944); he founded and directed the John Marshall Insurance Company (1946).
In 1948 Mannix returned to Cleveland as chief executive officer of the Cleveland Hospital Service Association, later Blue Cross of Northeast Ohio. He lived in LAKEWOOD. He retired in 1965 and became a research consultant at Blue Cross. Mannix, who was divorced, had 3 children, Rose Ann Post, Frank and John, Jr. He is buried in CALVARY CEMETERY.
John Mannix Papers, Stanley Ferguson Archives, University Hospitals.
John Mannix Papers, Center for Hospital and Health Care Administration History, AHA, Chicago, IL.