Amazon Could Change the Future of Health Care With Its Own Company

Photo: Stocksy/Sean Locke
It seems Amazon's plan to break into the prescription drug market was just the beginning as far as the company's health-care goals were concerned. The next step—along with Berkshire Hathaway and JPMorgan Chase—is creating an independent health-care company to benefit employees and their families.

The three powerhouse corporations have joined forces, according to a press release, with the goal of making health care simpler, more transparent, and more affordable for their combined workforces, which make up millions of people.

"The ballooning costs of healthcare act as a hungry tapeworm on the American economy." —Warren Buffett, Berkshire Hathaway Chairman and CEO

"The ballooning costs of health care act as a hungry tapeworm on the American economy," Warren Buffett, Berkshire Hathaway chairman and CEO, said in the release. "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."

Although the health-care industry is a complicated beast, Jeff Bezos, Amazon's founder and CEO, thinks this team effort could be the key to changing things for the better.

"The health-care system is complex, and we enter into this challenge open-eyed about the degree of difficulty,” Bezos said in the release. "Hard as it might be, reducing health care’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."

Some of that success, according to Jamie Dimon, chairman and CEO of JPMorgan Chase, means providing employees precisely what they want (and, really, deserve): "Transparency, knowledge, and control when it comes to managing their health care."

Many unknowns remain regarding this new take on health care, but folks who don't work for these specific businesses could enjoy some positive side effects as well. While the new venture's early planning stages indeed focus on the companies' employees, Dimon noted that a goal is to create solutions for all Americans in the future.

Here's how one company is revolutionizing what it means to go to the doctor. Also, these are the best biohacking tips for women.

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