Amazon, JPMorgan Chase, Berkshire Hathaway Tap Tech to Simplify Healthcare

Technology is in the driver's seat of a new company that aims to take on the rising costs of employee healthcare and improve user satisfaction. Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway and JPMorgan Chase announced on Jan. 30 that the three will come together to form an independent company that will focus on "technology solutions that will provide U.S. employees and their families with simplified, high-quality and transparent healthcare at a reasonable cost," according to a press release.

“The healthcare system is complex, and we enter into this challenge open-eyed about the degree of difficulty,” Jeff Bezos, Amazon founder and CEO, 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.”

While the exact technologies were not laid out in the initial release, the three aim to hone their combined resources in order to improve transparency, knowledge and control for company employees managing their healthcare.

“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,” said Berkshire Hathaway Chairman and CEO, Warren Buffett in the statement. "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."