What do ATMs and HSAs have in Common?

Forty-three years ago, in 1967, a Scottish fellow named John Shepherd-Barron invented the ATM (Automatic Teller Machine, in case you have forgotten what this ubiquitous acronym actually stands for). He thought about vending machines and asked himself the question: “If a machine can dispense chocolate, why can’t it give me cash?” Apparently, the idea of an ATM caught on. Today, there are over 1,700,000 ATMs worldwide!

The first high-deductible healthplan tied to a Health Savings Account, or HSA, was introduced in January, 2004. Like the ATM, initial acceptance was slow. Only the early adopters types understood the concept, appreciated the idea, and were willing to sign on.

But roll the clock forward a few short years.

As reported just this month by AHIP, the use of Health Savings Accounts has grown to the point where ten million Americans now have a HSA-type healthplan! From zero to ten million in just over seven years – that’s rapid adoption!

It looks like in both the case of the ATM and the HSA that the product is fulfilling an important need. In the case of the ATM, it’s convenience. With HSAs, it’s a way to try and hold down healthcare costs while giving the consumer (you and me) greater control over our spending. It shows how the health insurance landscape can shift rather dramatically in a relatively short period.

HSAs offer the hope that if we, as consumers, have some “skin in the game” in terms of paying the direct costs for (some of) our healthcare, that we will make better decisions.

Just as a change in personal habits caused by ATMs foretold (and helped cause) a shift to doing banking anytime and virtually anywhere (think online banking via mobile phones), so too is the HSA part of a bigger picture.

HSAs have already sparked an interest by consumers in being able to evaluate cost and quality information about doctors, imaging centers, and hospitals. This is a seismic shift, and we’ve only felt the first tremors.

Healthcare in this country is changing rapidly, provoked by a number of drivers and events. And while significant changes in the healthcare landscape can take decades (the time it takes to train a new generations of doctors, for example), the story of ATMs and HSAs shows us it can also happen in just a few years.

Click here for more information about the penetration of HSAs.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 25th, 2010 at 10:01 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.