Amazon, JPMorgan, Berkshire healthcare partnership makes anything possible

Updated 01/31/18

Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN), Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRK.A) and JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) announced Tuesday a partnership to address health care for their U.S. employees, with the goal of improving employee satisfaction while reducing costs.

The three companies will form an independent company to pursue this objective “free from profit-making incentives and constraints,” according to the companies’ release on the partnership.

According to Kate McCarthy, a senior analyst at Forrester, “the art of the possible here is tremendous.”

“An Amazon/Buffet/JPMorgan play makes almost anything possible: insurance products, consumer products, robust analytics and customer insights, pharmacy and PBM, retail healthcare … the list is endless. The health care industry’s laggard performance will benefit from whatever products and services these three decide to bring to the market,” added McCarthy.

The initial focus of the new company will be on technology solutions that will provide U.S. employees and their families with simplified, high-quality and transparent health care at a reasonable cost. The partnership is in the early stages, and more details will be released as they are available. But, according to McCarthy, “health care leaders should prepare now for the future to look very different.”