Amazon teams up with JPMorgan Chase and Berkshire Hathaway to create a new healthcare...

[Polycount]

It's no secret that America's healthcare industry isn't in the best position at the moment. Premium costs are sky-high for many US citizens with no sign of relief anytime soon - at least, not through typical channels.

It now seems that corporations have decided to take the healthcare issue into their own hands. Retail giant Amazon will be partnering up with holding company Berkshire Hathaway and financial services firm JPMorgan Chase to create a completely new healthcare company focused on "reining in" healthcare costs for their employees.

"The ballooning costs of healthcare act as a hungry tapeworm on the American economy," said Berkshire Hathaway chairman Warren Buffet. "Our group does not come to this problem with answers. But we also do not accept it as inevitable."

The three companies have not offered many details regarding the specifics of their plan just yet. All we know so far is that the company will focus on technology intended to increase healthcare transparency and ease of use while simultaneously remaining free from the "need to deliver a profit." The company will also aim to "reduce healthcare's burden on the economy."

The corporate trio are well aware of the roadblocks they may face with this partnership. "The healthcare system is complex," said Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, "and we enter into this challenge open-eyed about the degree of difficulty." However, Bezos feels the "outcomes for employees and their families" will be worth the effort.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/73017-amazon-teams-up-jpmorgan-chase-berkshire-hathaway-create.html

 

[stewi0001]

I wish them luck on this and I hope they are successful. Health insurance takes a big bite of my paycheck.

 

[davislane1]

Health care costs are high because the equipment and drugs are astronomically priced. Changing health insurance regulation or forming new insurance businesses doesn't reduce the "cost of health care." It simply shifts it.

Might try putting those billions to use ending manufacturing monopolies on the drugs and technologies.

 

[Uncle Al]

We heard the same BS back in the day they stared healthcare management companies ... promises of better, cheaper healthcare that anyone could afford .... and look what it's got us. The fact remains that healthcare is the most greed ridden industry in the US these days and until we have strict regulation it won't change ... unless of course, all those doctors can't make a living on the 1% and realize there's nobody else to pay them ....

 

[CBTex]

While this won't do much to help with healthcare costs, it will create more competition in the health insurance sector. Unfortunately that effect will be tempered by this being limited to these certain companies. It will be interesting to see, if this pans out, if other large corporations group to together to self-insure in a similar manner.

 

[yRaz]

Health care costs are high because the equipment and drugs are astronomically priced. Changing health insurance regulation or forming new insurance businesses doesn't reduce the "cost of health care." It simply shifts it.

Might try putting those billions to use ending manufacturing monopolies on the drugs and technologies.

I looked at one of my ER bills, if I had to foot the thing it would have been $23,000 for 8 stitches and an IV drip of saline solution. I wont argue that drugs are priced extremely high but I remember being a kid without healthcare and it cost my dad $60 to have my family doctor stitch up my chin when I feel on my bike.

I had another experience when I had a seizure(I have epilepsy) and was rushed to the ER. I was dropped by my insurance company after that. I had a follow up with my family doctor and told him I lost my insurance and would be paying out of pocket. His response to me was "I don't even know how much we charge"

 

[Hexic]

...but, but... We were promised that costs wouldn't rise after the new[ish] healthcare system. We would get to keep our doctors, and costs would go down for the overwhelming majority of the country!

Sounded too good to be true then, realization ensued now. GG. Get Sanders in here, he also says he works miracles!

 

[davislane1]

I looked at one of my ER bills, if I had to foot the thing it would have been $23,000 for 8 stitches and an IV drip of saline solution. I wont argue that drugs are priced extremely high but I remember being a kid without healthcare and it cost my dad $60 to have my family doctor stitch up my chin when I feel on my bike.

I had another experience when I had a seizure(I have epilepsy) and was rushed to the ER. I was dropped by my insurance company after that. I had a follow up with my family doctor and told him I lost my insurance and would be paying out of pocket. His response to me was "I don't even know how much we charge"

Went in for stitches (x2) back in 2011. Insurance covered all but $20, IIRC. Total bill? $1,200. The kicker? The equivalent disinfectants and materials used can be found in most first aid kits ($30 tops).

I've heard various reasons for why hospitals charge so much. Part of it is because of the volume of people who show up, get treated, and can't/won't pay (or their insurance provider wants to dispute charges). Apparently hospitals try to balance the books by off settings non-payers with higher prices. The other part is pricing on the part of suppliers.

Another example...

Recently purchased some tamaflu. Paid out of pocket (about $60). Normal MSRP in 2017 was over $330 for a 5 day supply (10 pills). Somehow, someway, the price has mysteriously fallen in the middle of a nation-wide flu epidemic to between $60 and $150 in my area. I'm not suggesting shenanigans, but that seems really... counterintuitive.

Health insurance is a distraction from the real problem(s) driving up medical treatment costs.

...but, but... We were promised that costs wouldn't rise after the new[ish] healthcare system. We would get to keep our doctors, and costs would go down for the overwhelming majority of the country!

Sounded too good to be true then, realization ensued now. GG. Get Sanders in here, he also says he works miracles!

We need to completely socialize our system. They say not only will you not have to foot a big medical bill if you get sick, they also promise no waitlists or special qualifications for critical treatments! How great is that?

 

[Ultraman1966]

I know it's crazy but maybe they could lobby for a national health service? Pretty much every single developed country in the entire world has one and for a good reason.

 

[davislane1]

I know it's crazy but maybe they could lobby for a national health service? Pretty much every single developed country in the entire world has one and for a good reason.

"If you want medical treatment, you will get medical treatment."

 

[Danny101]

Can't do any worse than what we got going now

 

[CBTex]

The idea of health insurance is actually one of the main reasons health care costs are so high. It significantly lowers the economic pain of treatment. People routinely pass along risky behavior to others through insurance. Do you think so many people would be obese if they had to pay out of pocket for heart diesese complications?

It really doesn't make economic sense (on a macro-economic scale) to treat a 75 year old man for cancer, but we (the tax payers) routinely pay $200k in healthcare costs for someone who, on average, has around 3 years of life left. But trying to use any reason in that situation is political suicide.

 

[davislane1]

It really doesn't make economic sense (on a macro-economic scale) to treat a 75 year old man for cancer, but we (the tax payers) routinely pay $200k in healthcare costs for someone who, on average, has around 3 years of life left. But trying to use any reason in that situation is political suicide.

Thus the problem with nationalized health care. People cease to be people. They're just numbers.

"Your value proposition is too low. You get to die."

 

[Ultraman1966]

Thus the problem with nationalized health care. People cease to be people. They're just numbers.

"Your value proposition is too low. You get to die."

Yeah, because all of us in Europe with an NHS are dying in stupendous numbers because of our socialised healthcare system.
Except we're not because that's flat out untrue. However, when your bottomline for healthcare system is to have a good profit margin, then people really do just become numbers.

 

[Joe Blow]

JP Morgan Chase and Berkshire Hathaway are in it for the money. This means, more "health care" needs to be shoved down the throat of the public. All the more reason to get rid of the individual mandate from that garbage sold to us as ObamaCare.