We told you some time ago that the Blue Cross / Blue Shield Association was in the process of chartering its own bank. The Office of Thrift Supervision recently approved a federal savings bank charter for Blue Healthcare Bank, and that means that BCBS has now joined you in the banking business, at least for health savings accounts and other health related measures.

Robert Gross, the chief executive officer of the new Blue Healthcare bank based in Sandy, Utah, predicts that the new bank will have more than $500 million in health savings account deposits within three years. The bank already offers services through Blue Cross organizations in Arkansas, Idaho, Michigan and South Carolina.

Blue Cross and Blue Shield, which serves about 98 million members, or nearly one in three Americans, is the latest entrant into the emerging health care banking business. Blue Cross / Blue Shield joins UnitedHealth Group's Exante Bank, and Humana, in offering banking services for Blue Cross / Blue Shield health insurance customers. These banks allow customers to manage and direct health care spending via debit cards linked to their HSAs, flexible spending accounts and employer-financed health reimbursement accounts.

According to the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, the market for health care banking is growing. Its research showed that in 2006, 57 percent of HSA-eligible enrollees opened HSA accounts. According to U.S. Department of Treasury estimates, 40 million to 45 million Americans will be enrolled in HSA-eligible insurance plans by 2010.

Oh, yes. Happy Valentine's Day!

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