TL;DR
HealthEquity just hired Mukund Ramachandran (ex‑Mastercard) as Chief Marketing Officer and Garett Kitch (ex‑EverQuote, eHealth) as SVP of Client Sales & Relationship Management. (Source: GlobeNewswire)
The move lands ahead of the largest HSA eligibility expansion in 20 years (effective Jan 1, 2026).
Translation: more buyers, more partners, more competition.
Below is the simple playbook and KPIs you can steal.
What Happened
HealthEquity (NASDAQ: HQY) added a new CMO and a head of client sales/relationships to tighten go‑to‑market execution.
The timing matches a big policy change: ACA Bronze and Catastrophic plans become HSA‑compatible in 2026, with room for Direct Primary Care and low‑cost telehealth to work with HSAs. Expect millions of new eligible consumers.
The company is also leaning harder into AI‑powered ops (e.g., faster claims reimbursements, high‑adoption mobile app).
Why now matters: in 2025, Marketplace enrollment hit 24.3M; ~30% (~7.3M) chose Bronze/Catastrophic plans. In 2026 a big chunk of these members can pair HSAs, creating a once‑in‑a‑decade land‑grab.
Why Marketers Should Care About HSA Expansion
Category tailwind: HSA adoption will rise as eligibility widens. More buyers enter the funnel with “What is an HSA?” questions—perfect for education‑led demand gen.
Channel complexity: Growth will run through employers, brokers, partners, and D2C. Marketing must orchestrate the story across all four.
Proof > polish: AI claims and “innovation” talk won’t win alone. Buyers want simple outcomes (faster reimbursements, lower fees, better app UX) and clear next steps.
If you’re aligning sales and marketing for this shift, start with our Sales‑Marketing Alignment framework to cut lead waste and speed handoffs.
How To Structure CMO–Sales For Pipeline And Renewals
Here’s the org design I’d run in a healthcare/fintech model like this:
1) One revenue funnel, two horizons
Horizon A (New logos): Demand Gen, Product Marketing, Brand, RevOps report to CMO; SDRs matrix to Sales with joint quotas.
Horizon B (Renew/expand): Lifecycle Marketing sits with Customer Success but shares targets with Sales for cross‑sell/upsell.
For more about all things Customer Success, check out this excellent weekly resource: The CS Café Newsletter.
2) Crystal‑clear ownership (RACI)
Positioning & narrative: CMO (A), Sales (C). See also PMM reporting structure guide to avoid turf wars.
ICP & segmentation: PMM (A), Sales Ops (R), RevOps (C).
Pipeline coverage & forecast: Sales (A), RevOps (R), CMO (C).
Partner/broker plays: Sales (A), Channel Marketing (R), CMO (C).
3) Shared rituals
Weekly SLA review (MQL->SQL time, acceptance %, disqualify reasons).
Monthly Deal Review led by PMM: messaging, win/loss patterns, buyer risks.
Quarterly QBR with execs and top partners: renewals at risk, attach‑rate targets, and co‑marketing calendar.
KPIs To Steal For HSA Growth (Simple, Revenue‑First)
Pipeline & acquisition
Marketing‑sourced pipeline (MSP) % and $$
Pipeline coverage (4–6× next‑quarter target)
SQL acceptance rate (goal: >75%)
Cost per qualified opportunity (CPQO)
Partner/broker‑sourced pipeline %
Activation & experience
HSA open rate among eligible members (employer & D2C)
Attach rate of HSA to eligible Bronze/Catastrophic plans
First‑fund & first‑spend rate (day‑30)
App adoption (e.g., % of members using mobile in 30 days)
Auto‑reimbursement success rate (AI claims)
NPS/CES by segment
Retention & expansion
Revenue retention (gross/net)
Cross‑sell rate (e.g., FSA, HRA, COBRA services)
Churn reasons with marketing remedy mapped
Payback period & LTV/CAC by channel
If you need a proven workflow to keep Sales and Marketing synced while lifting lead quality, use our Alignment framework (real benchmarks inside).
30‑Day Playbook You Can Run Now
Week 1 — Narrative grid
Build a one‑pager that ties 3 buyer outcomes (faster claims, lower fees, better app UX) to 3 proofs (case study, benchmark, analyst/stat). PMM owns it; Sales sign‑off in 48h.
Week 2 — Eligibility explainer series
Ship a 3‑part email/blog/social set that explains who becomes HSA‑eligible on Jan 1, 2026, how to open/fund, and what to do next. Include a broker co‑marketing variant.
Week 3 — Conversion guardrails
Set an SQL acceptance SLA, launch a disqualify reason field, and review daily for 10 days. Kill under‑performing channels fast.
Week 4 — Renewal wind‑ups
Create renewal‑risk dashboards and a customer story sprint (3 short proofs). Pair Lifecycle Marketing with CS on in‑app nudges for low‑use members.
What This Signals For Marketing Leaders
This is the classic “new market + new muscle” moment. Winners will:
Teach the market in simple language (no jargon).
Prove value with hard numbers.
Align CMO and Sales around one funnel and shared KPIs.
For deeper org and messaging tactics, see Stop Wasting Your Marketing Budget: Fix Your Positioning First and our Sales‑Marketing Alignment framework.
This is exactly the kind of breakdown I was looking for on HQY's leadership moves! The timing makes total sense with the Bronze and Catastrophic plan HSA compatability change coming in 2026. I think the big oportunity here is the education piece you mentioned. Most people have no idea what an HSA actually does or how it works. The fact that they brought in someone from Mastercard for CMO is smart, that's a consumer brand mindset rather than just B2B thinking. I'm curious how much of their growth will come from direct to consumer versus employer channel. Do you think the AI claims procesing stuff is actually a differentiator or just table stakes at this point?