Health insurance stocks slide on Amazon-Berkshire Hathaway-JPMorgan Chase non-profit self-insurance venture

Shares in major health insurers UnitedHealth and Anthem fell today after online retail giant Amazon (NSDQ:AMZN), major holding company Berkshire Hathaway and JPMorgan Chase announced a collaborative, independent non-profit looking to provide their employees with healthcare. The three companies said they will look to “bring their scale and complimentary expertise” to the long-term project, which will initially focus on technology solutions to help provide their US employees and families with “high-quality and transparent healthcare at a reasonable cost,” according to a press release. “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. Rather, we share the belief that putting our collective resources behind the country’s best talent can, in time, check the rise in health costs while concurrently enhancing patient satisfaction and outcomes,” Berkshire Hathaway chair & CEO Warren Buffett said in a prepared statement. The project is still in its early planning stages, but will be led for the time being by Berkshire Hathaway investment officer Todd Combs, JPMorgan Chase managing director Marvelle Berchtold and Amazon senior VP Beth Galetti. The companies stayed quiet on any other details, but said that long-term management, headquarters location and other operational details will be released “in due cour...
Source: Mass Device - Category: Medical Devices Authors: Tags: Business/Financial News Healthcare Reform Wall Street Beat Amazon Berkshire Hathaway JP Morgan Chase Source Type: news