Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway and JP Morgan Chase join forces to tackle employees’ health-care costs
Scott Benner
By Carolyn Y. Johnson January 30 at 8:31 AM - Washington Post
Three major employers, Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway and JP Morgan Chase, announced Tuesday they were partnering to create an independent company aimed at reining in health- care costs for their employees.
The independent company would be jointly led by executives from all three companies and would be focused on technology that could increase transparency and simplify health care, according to the joint announcement. It will be free from the need to deliver a profit.
"The ballooning costs of healthcare act as a hungry tapeworm on the American economy. Our group does not come to this problem with answers. But we also do not accept it as inevitable," Warren Buffett, Berkshire Hathaway chairman said in a statement.
Few details were available about the new initiative, described as in the initial planning stages. The announcement comes amid anticipation that Amazon could disrupt health care as it has in other industries -- sending tremors through companies that make and supply prescription drugs.
“The healthcare system is complex, and we enter into this challenge open-eyed about the degree of difficulty,” Jeffrey P. Bezos, Amazon founder said in a statement. “Hard as it might be, reducing healthcare’s burden on the economy while improving outcomes for employees and their families would be worth the effort. Success is going to require talented experts, a beginner’s mind, and a long-term orientation.”
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