Health Venture Unveils Name, Site -- WSJ

By Anna Wilde Mathews 

This article is being republished as part of our daily reproduction of WSJ.com articles that also appeared in the U.S. print edition of The Wall Street Journal (March 7, 2019).

The high-profile health-care venture launched last year by Amazon.com Inc., Berkshire Hathaway Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. finally has a name: Haven.

The new company, which has formally released almost no information about its plans, is also unveiling a website, which includes a letter from Chief Executive Atul Gawande, a well-known writer and surgeon. But the site appears to add little new detail on the venture's plans. Some information already had emerged in an ongoing court case filed by UnitedHealth Group Inc. against one of its own former employees, who is now working for Haven.

Dr. Gawande's letter says that Haven "will create new solutions and work to change systems, technologies, contracts, policy and whatever else is in the way of better health care."

Haven, which was incorporated in Delaware as a limited liability company formally named Tcorp62018, will initially focus on the employees of the three founding companies, according to a screenshot from the new website, echoing company officials' earlier testimony. The site says that "in time, we intend to share our innovations and solutions to help others."

In its suit, UnitedHealth's Optum health-services unit has argued that the venture is a potential rival, and officials from the venture have said they aren't competing with Optum.

The website reiterates that Haven isn't meant to generate profits and will "reinvest any surplus back into our work."

The company says it will focus on priorities including improved access to primary care, simplifying insurance coverage and making prescription drugs more affordable -- all issues that were previously highlighted in court testimony. In a Q&A on the site, in answer to a question about whether Haven will look to replace patients' existing doctors and insurance companies, the company says it is "interested in working with clinicians and insurance companies to improve the overall health care system."

Write to Anna Wilde Mathews at [e-mail]

Corrections & Amplifications An earlier version of this article misspelled JPMorgan as JPMorgen in the headline. (March 6, 2019)

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 07, 2019 02:47 ET (07:47 GMT)

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