Amazon Inc., Berkshire Hathaway and JPMorgan Chase & Co. announced Tuesday a joint venture to find “technology solutions” to drive down health care costs.
Faced with the prospect of a major new rival from the online retail giant, Warren Buffett and a large investment bank, shares of Aetna Inc. fell nearly 2.5 percent in pre-market trading. The Hartford health insurer is being bought by CVS Health Corp., which dropped more than 5 percent. Representatives from CVS and Aetna did not immediately return calls for comment.
The three businesses said their joint venture “will pursue this objective through an independent company that is free from profit-making incentives and constraints.”
They did not offer details, which was criticized by one analyst.
Buffett, CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, said in a statement that “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,” he said.
The effort is in the early planning stages, the three companies said. The initial formation of the company will be led 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.
Amazon has already entered the health care field, seeking state licenses to operate pharmacies. Some analysts said that move is partly the reason why CVS and Aetna sought its tie-up, to build a large heatlh care services company that can compete with the giant online retailer.
TO READ FULL STORY: CLICK HERE
No comments:
Post a Comment