BRK/JPM/AMZN healthcare tie up

[petec]

https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180130005676/en/Amazon-Berkshire-Hathaway-JPMorgan-Chase-partner-U.S.

Will be interesting to see how this develops.

[rogermunibond]

WOW. Buffett and Munger have always stated that healthcare is too bug a problem to crack, when asked at the annual meeting, and then Munger talks about chairing a community hospital as a form of penance for his extreme good fortune.

Someone from Amazon must have brought the blueprint for something exceptional

[Liberty]

I think Amazon probably brought forward the idea but even them didn't have the critical mass of employees to make this make sense, so they went to BRK and JPM.

[John Hjorth]

ValueWalk [2018.01.30]: Berkshire Healthcare Business May Never "Reach Its Potential".

[Cigarbutt]

This is great news.

What analysts describe as a relative disadvantage (new player with a yet undefined vision) may be one of its greatest entrepreneurial strengths.

The idea of starting with a cash flow negative pilot project makes sense before a scalable model is deployed.

Healthcare is based on science but its delivery is far from scientific. Just comparing regional variations would meet the definition of haphazard. A lot of what is considered “complex” could be simplified with the introduction of efficiency and discipline.

The timing is excellent as true “reform” will likely take precedence over idleness factors.

It appears that there is great potential to increase quality and satisfaction (patient, provider, insurer) AND to decrease cost. If that is achievable, the “profit” can be shared.

Creative destruction at work. Bring it on.

[Voodooking]

I know that Warren has a LOT of respect for Bezos, and both him and Charlie hold him in high regard. I'm sure Warren said that Bezos was the best businessman of his generation, or the last two decades, or some other sort of high praise like that.

It will be interesting to see what comes of it. Living in the UK with our free National Health Service, it paints a huge contrast to healthcare in the USA. I love the US, but healthcare for the less fortunate isn't one of its strong points.

[longinvestor]

Great to see this. After all, Berkshire is a heavily American business, the17% healthcare inflation is the"tapeworm" Buffett talks about.

My wife is a healthcare worker for30 years and even seen from her perspective, the healthcare system is coming apart.   

[rb]

I think it's brilliant and that it's gonna work. In addition while they claim it's non-profit, they're gonna make a whole bunch of money off of it.

[John Hjorth]

I have to agree with longinvestor & rb here,

What's the basis for this platform with regard to headcount?

Berkshire: 367,671 [Berkshire Annual Report 2016, p. 116, - add to that at least the employees at Flying J]
Amazon: ? [I don't know, and I don't bother to look it up - please fill in.]
JP Morgan Chase & Co.: ? [I don't know, and I don't bother to look it up - please fill in.]

- - - o 0 o - - -

It's a lot.

[rb]

Between the three of them they'll probably have 1 million policies covering 2-2.5 million people. It's a lot.

Now for the what ifs. What if other companies join? Off the top of my head Wells Fargo, Coca-Cola (with it's bottlers), and American Express. If Wells joins all the majour banks will have to join as well. We're talking about a lot of people here.