Amazon.com Inc., Berkshire Hathaway Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. said they plan to collaborate on a way to offer health-care services to their US employees.
The three companies said they plan to set up a new independent company “that is free from profit-making incentives and constraints,” according to a statement on Tuesday. The initial focus will be on technology solutions to provide health care “at a reasonable cost.”
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| This combination of photos from left shows Warren Buffett on Sept. 19, 2017, in New York, Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon.com, on Sept. 24, 2013, in Seattle and JP Morgan Chase Chairman and CEO Jamie Dimon on July 12, 2013, in New York. Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, Amazon and the New York bank JPMorgan Chase are teaming up to create a health care company announced Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2018, that is “free from profit-making incentives and constraints.” (AP-Yonhap) |
Shares of an array of US health-care stocks dropped on the news. Express Scripts Holding Co. and CVS Health Corp., which manage pharmacy benefits, declined in early trading, as did health insurers.
“By bringing together three of the world’s leading organizations into this new and innovative construct, the group hopes to draw on its combined capabilities and resources to take a fresh approach to these critical matters,” according to the statement.
The effort is in its early planning stages, the companies said. The effort is being spearheaded by Todd Combs, an investment officer of Berkshire Hathaway; Marvelle Sullivan Berchtold, a managing director of JPMorgan Chase; and Beth Galetti, a senior vice president at Amazon.
The management team, location of the headquarters and other operational details are to be announced at a later date.
(Bloomberg)
