Haven, a secretive healthcare start-up launched by Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway, and JPMorgan, will shut down at the end of February 2021. Founded in 2018, Warren Buffett, Jamie Dimon, and Jeff Bezos said the venture was meant to marshal their collective resources to improve the U.S. healthcare system for their employees, which they acknowledged was broken and a drag on the economy.
- Though the announcement of the joint venture garnered media attention and sent shares of healthcare incumbents tumbling, Haven faced challenges because the founding companies each started their healthcare projects separately, which undercut the need for Haven, according to CNBC.
- A statement on Haven’s website said that Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway, and JPMorgan will “continue to collaborate informally to design programs tailored to address the specific needs of their own employee populations.”
- Haven also launched primary care pilot programs, but it failed to market them to employees in an effort to maintain secrecy, the Information reported in July, while the company lost its financial backing.
- Insurance company UnitedHealth Group sued a former executive in 2019 for allegedly stealing trade secrets and taking them to Haven. While the lawsuit was eventually dismissed, Haven’s COO left in May 2019 and its CEO, Dr. Atul Gawande, stepped down earlier this year. High turnover impacted Haven’s ability to define a clear business strategy.
- In the past three years, Haven explored a wide range of healthcare solutions, as well as piloted new ways to make primary care easier to access, insurance benefits simpler to understand and easier to use, and prescription drugs more affordable.