Haven, a joint venture between Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN), JP Morgan (NYSE: JPM), and Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK.A) intended to lower healthcare costs, is shutting down operations after only three years.
Haven's employees were informed on Monday that the company would cease operations by February. Luckily for Haven's 57 Boston based workers, they will likely be reassigned to positions within Amazon, JP Morgan, or Berkshire Hathaway. Unfortunately for Haven, though, the company closed down without accomplishing its mission.
Haven, founded to reduce healthcare costs and outcomes for the three partners' employees, didn't do much towards accomplishing that goal. At the very least, it appears as if Haven served as a good stepping stone for future projects.
"Haven worked best as an incubator of ideas, a place to pilot, test, and learn -- and a way to share best practices across our companies. Our learnings have been invaluable," JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon wrote to employees of Haven.
The efforts to cheapen healthcare for American workers will continue through the cooperation between Amazon, JP Morgan, and Berkshire Hathaway. Speaking to CNN, Haven spokeswoman Brooke Thurston confirmed this, stating, "Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway, and JPMorgan Chase & Co. will...continue to collaborate informally to design programs tailored to address the specific needs of our individual employee populations and locations."
According to some experts, it's "no surprise" that the company went under. Haven was facing a rigid and complex industry rife with dense red tape; any attempts to truly break through the spiderweb of bureaucracy and decades of industry growth would have likely required a far more concerted effort.
Even with the failure of Haven and other efforts like it, experts still maintain that the healthcare industry is in dire need of reform. Some experts seem to think that the federal government's action may be more successful, especially for addressing the needs of lower-income Americans who cannot afford private insurance or whose employers do not offer health coverage.