75 years of providing healthcare benefits to teamsters and their families!

When TeamCare was founded in May 1950, the Fund provided benefits to 7,500 Teamsters. The next year, benefits were extended to family members for an additional $1 per week. 

Today, TeamCare is one of the largest union Health Funds in the country, providing benefits to over 550,000 members from over 1,100 different employers.

To provide context on how the Fund has grown:

• 1951 – Hospital and Surgical benefits were capped at $120 per family per year.
• 1955 – Those benefits improved when an additional $120 per year was provided for maternity coverage during the Baby Boomer years.

• 2025 – TeamCare had 10 members who had over $2 million in paid claims, with 2 members having over $3 million in paid claims.

As healthcare has changed over the last 75 years, TeamCare has changed with it. In the early 1980’s, TeamCare was one of the first to provide managed care by negotiating directly with providers in larger geographical areas.

TeamCare pioneered what is now known as “preferred provider organizations” or, as we know them today, PPOs. At the same time, TeamCare offered the Family Protection Benefit, which provides 5 years of free coverage to covered dependents in the event of a participant’s death. This benefit is still unmatched by any insurer today. 

Although the Fund Trustees have changed over the last 75 years, the philosophy of the original Trustees remains the same as it did in 1950 – to provide the highest level of healthcare benefits, while maintaining industry-low contribution rates for our union and employer partners. Happy birthday, TeamCare!