September 9, 2025 • 9 mins
HealthEquity and its subsidiaries administer HSAs and other consumer-directed benefits for more than 17 million accounts in partnership with employers, benefits advisors, and health and retirement plan providers who share our mission to save and improve lives by empowering healthcare consumers.
Scott Cutler, the company's CEO, discusses the challenges and successes of his first eight months on the job, and how his firm uses technology and data to help deal with healthcare affordability issues in America. Scott speaks with Tim Stenovec and Carol Massar on Bloomberg Businessweek Daily.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
Bloomberg Audio Studios, Podcasts, radio News.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
You're listening to Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Masser and
Tim Stenoveek on Bloomberg Radio.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
We want to talk a little bit about, as we mentioned,
some more voices from the C suite, So let's get
to it. Health equity shares to that company, rallying for
a second day as analyst race price targets on the
stock following earnings late Tuesday. The company administers health saving
accounts and flexible spending accounts, and it did boost itsjust
a profit forecast for the full year at all, so
reported revenue and adjusted earnings per share for the fiscal
(00:35):
second quarter that beat the average analyst estimate. So here
to talk about the quarter. The outlook in the business
is the company's president and CEO. He's Scott Cutler and
the company, if you're not familiar, eight point four billion
dollar market cap. Scott joining us right here in studio.
And full disclosure, we have health equity cards. FSA is
here at Loberg. Full disclosure. I gotta tell you we
(00:58):
all take these things for granted, we use them and
so on and so forth. Lay out your business though,
how do you guys make money on all of this.
Speaker 3 (01:05):
So we cover about a quarter of working Americans today
would have an account with us. And I think the
little known fact about health savings account is that they
are the most tax advantage savings vehicle that you could have.
Speaker 1 (01:18):
Is that different from an FSA?
Speaker 3 (01:20):
It is different than an FSA because an FSA is
use it or lose it, and HSA is an asset
that you should be saving in. You should be contributing it.
The max for a family's about eighty five hundred dollars
a year, and then you should be hoping that invest
and grow over time because you can have it grow
tax free, and then ultimately you can spend it tax
free as well for healthcare related expenditures. So it's a
(01:44):
great account to have, but it's also great to be
able to connect it to your healthcare, your wellness. And
it's obviously a benefit that's provided by employers.
Speaker 2 (01:53):
But it's not provided by every employer. I've been hearing
about health savings account my entire career. I've never had one.
I've never had the opportunity to have one. Is it
because I've never had a high deductible health plan.
Speaker 3 (02:04):
It's it's always associated with a with a plan, and
I'll maybe talk a little bit about how it's expanding
now under the new legislation. But it's first initially tied
to a high deductible health plan, and the challenge is
only about a third of people when offer the choice,
we'll select a high deductible health plan. The reality is
a high deductible health plan in terms of overall out
(02:25):
of pocket costs is typically no more expensive than a
low deductible plan, particularly when you combine it with an HSA.
And so you've got to select that plan. Benfit, you're saying, yeah,
that's how it was set up, and so you've got
to select that plan, and then you can have an
HSA that's associated with it. And so we look at
adoption of high deductible health plans as one step, and
(02:46):
then once you have one, you know you should be
contributing and then using that.
Speaker 2 (02:50):
Does it put the onus on the employee to make
these financial decisions rather than the company in that sense,
like you have to actually go out if you are
offered a range of health plans where you work, which
oftentimes people are doing. You don't necessarily have the information
always to go and make that choice.
Speaker 3 (03:09):
It's two things. One, as an employer, the challenge that
you have is how do you manage your health care costs?
They are growing at three times that of wages. And
one of those things is plan construction. So plan construction
around how many of your employees do you want and
can you encourage to be in a high deductible health plan.
Our best in class employers actually only offer a health
(03:29):
high deductible health plan. That's what we do as well.
But we also match and we contribute, and we tie
that to great wellness behaviors. And so from an enterprise,
this is a great way to control your health care costs.
For an individual, this is to help you prepare for
the health care cost that will come to you in
retirement or or in any health event, and you're preparing
(03:53):
for that future. So it works both sides.
Speaker 1 (03:55):
The Trump administration first term as well second term has
certainly we expanded HSA eligibility for some plans and for
telehealth services. Talked about those changes in what it's meant
in terms of the activity you are seeing in the growth.
Speaker 3 (04:09):
We have a whole new class of Americans now following
the passage of the bill that now qualified to be
able and are eligible for an HSA. So if you
have a signed up part of an ACA Marketplace plan,
a Bronze plan, you can now enroll in an HSA
where before you were not eligible. And so that's true
(04:30):
with the new legislation. So we're bringing in the largest
expansion of the HSA eligibility in the last twenty years.
So we think it's a big opportunity. But it's also
an opportunity to educate individuals about why should I have
an HSA and what can be used for.
Speaker 2 (04:44):
You know, you guys have a really interesting view of
the economy because you see directly how many employees are
being added to plans. We're getting some light data when
it comes to employment in the US. We'll get a
payrolls report tomorrow that might clear things up. ADP in
a little light today, What can you tell us about
what you're seeing from customers right now in terms of labor.
Speaker 3 (05:05):
So when you when you think about us, yes, we
would see you know, job churn, both hiring as well
as people moving as a tailwind for our for our business.
Early in the year we saw it, we said this
market feels a little weaker. We were communicating that out
to the street early in the year, and then obviously
with the BLS revising down the labor statistics over the
(05:27):
last couple of quarters, that's been very true. We still
see that, and so it's a weaker job market overall.
But also I think from employers it's sort of this
other thing, which is also healthcare costs overall are unaffordable
for many people and even companies, And so how is
it that you deal with with both? And so we
(05:47):
have visibility, I guess into both of those trends.
Speaker 2 (05:50):
Who is the.
Speaker 1 (05:50):
Typical person who opens up a HSA. I'm just curious,
is there a specific demographic or not?
Speaker 3 (05:55):
All over the No, it's as broad as the US
workforce would be young, all young, old. Yeah. And actually
what excited me about joining Health Equity was seeing my son,
who entered the workforce, had his firm provided an HSA,
how he was using it in a digital app, thinking
of it as a stored value, using it in healthcare
(06:15):
related expenditures, an integrated part of his health decisions, he
and his wife, and I was like, this is a
very cool company, great app, and was one of the
reasons I joined.
Speaker 2 (06:25):
You know, it's interesting I as Carol mentioned we use
full disclosure. We use health equity here. And also it's
not like we have a choice. I mean, this is
what we are offered as employees, and I think that's
the case for all employers who use employees, who use
services such as yours, they are given this is the
option when they sign up or when you start working somewhere.
But I use it less for health stuff. I use
(06:47):
it more for non health stuff like transportation benefits, dependent
care reimbursement, lifestyle stuff that we get reimbursement in that sense,
is that a tiny part of your business compared to
the healthcare side.
Speaker 3 (06:58):
So we have HSA, and then we have other reimbursement
accounts as well as commuter and COBRA, So your commuter
benefits would be through a different type of account, COBRA
would be for you know, unemployment. And then you have
fssay's lifestyle savings accounts, So all sorts of different accounts
most of our businesses and hsas. But as we go
(07:18):
to employers, you know, Bloomberg being one, there's a host
of products that employers like to offer as part of
their benefit plan, and so we offer the host of
those CDB products overall.
Speaker 1 (07:29):
So Scott, when you look at kind of the macro
stuff that's going on and coming at us NonStop today,
a lot of it coming out of a d C.
I mean, what's what's top of mind. Is it just
regulatory in terms of changes coming out of Washington that
is most important for your world, or is it also
kind of where the economy is.
Speaker 3 (07:45):
Well in the healthcare space. This year, we have a
very active year on the legislative front, things changing that
The One Big Beautiful Bill was one of the fastest
pieces of legislation that moved through both you know, and
I think it's you look at other things. Expiring tax
credits at the at the end of the year in
healthcare are pretty significant. There's a you know, potentially big
(08:09):
changes that could come if those tax credits do expire.
And so, you know, Washington d C the regulatory front
creates a lot of uncertainty around what's going to happen
around legislative change. And then overall some of the impact
on policies. You know, for a CEO makes you take
a step back and say, hey, where do I want
to take risk? Where do I see that risk? What
(08:30):
can I control and manage and you know, I think
we see that. I see that as a leader as well.
Speaker 2 (08:35):
What do you actively push for in Washington? If you
do have lobbyists, what do you want?
Speaker 3 (08:39):
Yeah, I mean we're actively lobbing in in Washington. Our
agenda has really been how do you address the affordability
crisis of healthcare and how do you prepare more Americans
for that healthcare expense. We do believe that access to
an HSA is one way we want to better connect
people to say and spending to their healthcare. We want
(09:02):
employers to think about their role in that. And you know,
I think if we're all involved in that aspect and
we're connected to the healthcare decisions, we can drive the
costs overall of healthcare in the system down. And it's
twenty percent of US GDP and those and those costs
are rising faster, and so I think we all have
(09:23):
an active role.
Speaker 1 (09:24):
To play, and not always with great outcomes, certainly here
in the United States. Despital that spending. Scott, thank you
so much, really appreciate it. Thank you soon.
Bloomberg Audio Studios, Podcasts, radio News.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
You're listening to Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Masser and
Tim Stenoveek on Bloomberg Radio.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
We want to talk a little bit about, as we mentioned,
some more voices from the C suite, So let's get
to it. Health equity shares to that company, rallying for
a second day as analyst race price targets on the
stock following earnings late Tuesday. The company administers health saving
accounts and flexible spending accounts, and it did boost itsjust
a profit forecast for the full year at all, so
reported revenue and adjusted earnings per share for the fiscal
(00:35):
second quarter that beat the average analyst estimate. So here
to talk about the quarter. The outlook in the business
is the company's president and CEO. He's Scott Cutler and
the company, if you're not familiar, eight point four billion
dollar market cap. Scott joining us right here in studio.
And full disclosure, we have health equity cards. FSA is
here at Loberg. Full disclosure. I gotta tell you we
(00:58):
all take these things for granted, we use them and
so on and so forth. Lay out your business though,
how do you guys make money on all of this.
Speaker 3 (01:05):
So we cover about a quarter of working Americans today
would have an account with us. And I think the
little known fact about health savings account is that they
are the most tax advantage savings vehicle that you could have.
Speaker 1 (01:18):
Is that different from an FSA?
Speaker 3 (01:20):
It is different than an FSA because an FSA is
use it or lose it, and HSA is an asset
that you should be saving in. You should be contributing it.
The max for a family's about eighty five hundred dollars
a year, and then you should be hoping that invest
and grow over time because you can have it grow
tax free, and then ultimately you can spend it tax
free as well for healthcare related expenditures. So it's a
(01:44):
great account to have, but it's also great to be
able to connect it to your healthcare, your wellness. And
it's obviously a benefit that's provided by employers.
Speaker 2 (01:53):
But it's not provided by every employer. I've been hearing
about health savings account my entire career. I've never had one.
I've never had the opportunity to have one. Is it
because I've never had a high deductible health plan.
Speaker 3 (02:04):
It's it's always associated with a with a plan, and
I'll maybe talk a little bit about how it's expanding
now under the new legislation. But it's first initially tied
to a high deductible health plan, and the challenge is
only about a third of people when offer the choice,
we'll select a high deductible health plan. The reality is
a high deductible health plan in terms of overall out
(02:25):
of pocket costs is typically no more expensive than a
low deductible plan, particularly when you combine it with an HSA.
And so you've got to select that plan. Benfit, you're saying, yeah,
that's how it was set up, and so you've got
to select that plan, and then you can have an
HSA that's associated with it. And so we look at
adoption of high deductible health plans as one step, and
(02:46):
then once you have one, you know you should be
contributing and then using that.
Speaker 2 (02:50):
Does it put the onus on the employee to make
these financial decisions rather than the company in that sense,
like you have to actually go out if you are
offered a range of health plans where you work, which
oftentimes people are doing. You don't necessarily have the information
always to go and make that choice.
Speaker 3 (03:09):
It's two things. One, as an employer, the challenge that
you have is how do you manage your health care costs?
They are growing at three times that of wages. And
one of those things is plan construction. So plan construction
around how many of your employees do you want and
can you encourage to be in a high deductible health plan.
Our best in class employers actually only offer a health
(03:29):
high deductible health plan. That's what we do as well.
But we also match and we contribute, and we tie
that to great wellness behaviors. And so from an enterprise,
this is a great way to control your health care costs.
For an individual, this is to help you prepare for
the health care cost that will come to you in
retirement or or in any health event, and you're preparing
(03:53):
for that future. So it works both sides.
Speaker 1 (03:55):
The Trump administration first term as well second term has
certainly we expanded HSA eligibility for some plans and for
telehealth services. Talked about those changes in what it's meant
in terms of the activity you are seeing in the growth.
Speaker 3 (04:09):
We have a whole new class of Americans now following
the passage of the bill that now qualified to be
able and are eligible for an HSA. So if you
have a signed up part of an ACA Marketplace plan,
a Bronze plan, you can now enroll in an HSA
where before you were not eligible. And so that's true
(04:30):
with the new legislation. So we're bringing in the largest
expansion of the HSA eligibility in the last twenty years.
So we think it's a big opportunity. But it's also
an opportunity to educate individuals about why should I have
an HSA and what can be used for.
Speaker 2 (04:44):
You know, you guys have a really interesting view of
the economy because you see directly how many employees are
being added to plans. We're getting some light data when
it comes to employment in the US. We'll get a
payrolls report tomorrow that might clear things up. ADP in
a little light today, What can you tell us about
what you're seeing from customers right now in terms of labor.
Speaker 3 (05:05):
So when you when you think about us, yes, we
would see you know, job churn, both hiring as well
as people moving as a tailwind for our for our business.
Early in the year we saw it, we said this
market feels a little weaker. We were communicating that out
to the street early in the year, and then obviously
with the BLS revising down the labor statistics over the
(05:27):
last couple of quarters, that's been very true. We still
see that, and so it's a weaker job market overall.
But also I think from employers it's sort of this
other thing, which is also healthcare costs overall are unaffordable
for many people and even companies, And so how is
it that you deal with with both? And so we
(05:47):
have visibility, I guess into both of those trends.
Speaker 2 (05:50):
Who is the.
Speaker 1 (05:50):
Typical person who opens up a HSA. I'm just curious,
is there a specific demographic or not?
Speaker 3 (05:55):
All over the No, it's as broad as the US
workforce would be young, all young, old. Yeah. And actually
what excited me about joining Health Equity was seeing my son,
who entered the workforce, had his firm provided an HSA,
how he was using it in a digital app, thinking
of it as a stored value, using it in healthcare
(06:15):
related expenditures, an integrated part of his health decisions, he
and his wife, and I was like, this is a
very cool company, great app, and was one of the
reasons I joined.
Speaker 2 (06:25):
You know, it's interesting I as Carol mentioned we use
full disclosure. We use health equity here. And also it's
not like we have a choice. I mean, this is
what we are offered as employees, and I think that's
the case for all employers who use employees, who use
services such as yours, they are given this is the
option when they sign up or when you start working somewhere.
But I use it less for health stuff. I use
(06:47):
it more for non health stuff like transportation benefits, dependent
care reimbursement, lifestyle stuff that we get reimbursement in that sense,
is that a tiny part of your business compared to
the healthcare side.
Speaker 3 (06:58):
So we have HSA, and then we have other reimbursement
accounts as well as commuter and COBRA, So your commuter
benefits would be through a different type of account, COBRA
would be for you know, unemployment. And then you have
fssay's lifestyle savings accounts, So all sorts of different accounts
most of our businesses and hsas. But as we go
(07:18):
to employers, you know, Bloomberg being one, there's a host
of products that employers like to offer as part of
their benefit plan, and so we offer the host of
those CDB products overall.
Speaker 1 (07:29):
So Scott, when you look at kind of the macro
stuff that's going on and coming at us NonStop today,
a lot of it coming out of a d C.
I mean, what's what's top of mind. Is it just
regulatory in terms of changes coming out of Washington that
is most important for your world, or is it also
kind of where the economy is.
Speaker 3 (07:45):
Well in the healthcare space. This year, we have a
very active year on the legislative front, things changing that
The One Big Beautiful Bill was one of the fastest
pieces of legislation that moved through both you know, and
I think it's you look at other things. Expiring tax
credits at the at the end of the year in
healthcare are pretty significant. There's a you know, potentially big
(08:09):
changes that could come if those tax credits do expire.
And so, you know, Washington d C the regulatory front
creates a lot of uncertainty around what's going to happen
around legislative change. And then overall some of the impact
on policies. You know, for a CEO makes you take
a step back and say, hey, where do I want
to take risk? Where do I see that risk? What
(08:30):
can I control and manage and you know, I think
we see that. I see that as a leader as well.
Speaker 2 (08:35):
What do you actively push for in Washington? If you
do have lobbyists, what do you want?
Speaker 3 (08:39):
Yeah, I mean we're actively lobbing in in Washington. Our
agenda has really been how do you address the affordability
crisis of healthcare and how do you prepare more Americans
for that healthcare expense. We do believe that access to
an HSA is one way we want to better connect
people to say and spending to their healthcare. We want
(09:02):
employers to think about their role in that. And you know,
I think if we're all involved in that aspect and
we're connected to the healthcare decisions, we can drive the
costs overall of healthcare in the system down. And it's
twenty percent of US GDP and those and those costs
are rising faster, and so I think we all have
(09:23):
an active role.
Speaker 1 (09:24):
To play, and not always with great outcomes, certainly here
in the United States. Despital that spending. Scott, thank you
so much, really appreciate it. Thank you soon.
Hosts And Creators
Tim Stenovec
Carol Massar
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