Leaders of Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway and JPMorgan Chase say they have found the “right person” to be at the helm of their mysterious healthcare venture.
The CEO will likely be revealed in two weeks after “tidying up a couple of things,” Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett told CNBC on Thursday.
In their search for the candidate to fill the slot, the firms did not run into anyone who “didn’t think significant improvement was both possible and important,” Buffett said.
“A number of them might not have wanted to be the one to help us succeed … but nobody disagreed with the mission, the importance of it, or the feasibility,” he said. “But it’s also a very, very tough nut to crack, and it’s going to take significant time. We’ve got the right person.”
The companies announced in January that they would work together to provide healthcare for their employees that is “free from profit-making incentives and constraints.” They have shared few details of the plan other than to say they want to improve employee satisfaction and reduce costs.
“This is a long-term thing,” JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon said. “We’re not looking for immediate success, but there are a lot of ideas out there. There are a lot of things that can be done better.
“We know the fraud, the administrative costs, we know overuse and underuse of various drugs and specialized procedures. We know the end of life often costs far more than it should and is far more painful than it should be, and with big data, there’s so many things to do.”
