Jeff Bezos, Warren Buffett and Jamie Dimon.
CNBC
Haven, the joint venture of three of America’s most powerful companies to cut costs and improve health outcomes, is disbanding after three years, CNBC said exclusively.
The company began informing employees Monday that it will close by the end of next month, according to people with direct knowledge about the matter.
Many of Boston’s 57 employees are expected to be placed on Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway or JPMorgan Chase, as companies push each other individually, and the three companies are still expected to collaborate informally on healthcare projects. , people said. .
The announcement three years ago that the CEOs of Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway and JPMorgan Chase have teamed up to address one of the biggest issues facing corporate America – high and rising costs for employee health care – has sent waves of shock throughout the world of medicine. The actions of healthcare companies have fallen out of fear over how the combined power of technology and finance leaders could drive costs out of the system.
The move to the closure of Haven may be a sign of how difficult it is to radically improve American health care, a complicated and ingrained system of doctors, insurers, drug manufacturers and middle-class people that costs the country $ 3.5 trillion each year. Last year, Berkshire CEO Warren Buffett seemed to indicate just as much, saying there was no guarantee that Haven would be able to improve healthcare.
A key issue Haven faced was that while the company came up with ideas, each of the three founding companies ran their own projects separately with their own employees, avoiding the need for the joint venture to start, according to people. who refused to identify themselves by talking about this issue.
Coming just three years after the initial fanfare rush about the possibilities for what Haven could accomplish, its closure is a disappointment to some. But insiders say it will allow founding companies to implement project ideas on their own, tailoring them to the specific needs of their employees, who are largely concentrated in different cities.
The move comes after Haven CEO Dr. Atul Gawande gave up the day-to-day running of the nonprofit in May, a move that sparked a search for his successor.
Brooke Thurston, a spokeswoman for Haven, confirmed the company’s plans to close and made the statement:
“The Haven team has made good progress in exploring a wide range of healthcare solutions, as well as piloting new ways to facilitate access to primary health care, easier-to-understand and easier-to-use insurance benefits, and more prescription drugs. accessible, ”Thurston said in an email. .
“Before, Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway and JPMorgan Chase & Co. they will capitalize on this information and continue to collaborate informally to design tailored programs that meet the specific needs of the population and the locations of our individual employees, ”she said.