I have 45+ years vertical worldwide expertise as a senior executive in all facets of retail, wholesale, and manufacturing of apparel, footwear, and accessories. During my career I have been instrumental in HR, developing employee benefit programs, employee compensation & incentives, and employee on boarding & retention. I can bring high level insights and contributions to the subject of disruption in employee benefits. These issues are not limited to just the private sector and economic factors. There are the public sector and political aspects & conflicts created by the different parties involving deregulation, socialistic initiatives, fiscal and monetary policies, nationalism & globalism to be evaluated and considered as well. As a VP of Operations and a COO for several companies, I was responsible for establishing benefit plans, sourcing & negotiating benefits solutions (Health/Dental Care Insurance Plans, Workers Comp Insurance Coverage, etc.), and implementing these plans/programs with HR. Along side of these plans/programs was training, education, health/safety programs, etc) to mitigate claims and to optimize best cost to value. Today, we are in a "wrestling match" between parties that want to fix benefits programs by socializing all health care protection under the public sector or streamlining & improving health care protection through private sector initiatives like the Amazon/B-H, JPM Health joint venture. I do not have direct experience with the Amazon/B-H, JPM Health joint venture but I could examine it, compare it to other alternatives, and respond/discuss something like a S.W.O.T. analysis as needed.

I have insight into, and experience with, cost management, value-based care, data-sharing, and digital healthcare technology from my work as executive medical director for a multi-state health plan, clinician, board member for a regional health system, chief medical officer for a medical benefits manager, and chair of a state’s digital health service commission. This intent of these three partners (Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway, and JP Morgan) is to overhaul the health care of their employees by reducing the cost and complexity of the care they receive. However, this venture will face at least a couple of challenges: (a) its CEO (Atul Gawande) lacks business experience, has not led a company or even a large team, his analyses may be shortsighted (e.g., the case of McAllen), his public health experience in promoting preventive care will not yield the immediate savings the sponsoring companies desire, and he will not be devoted full-time to his position; and (b) the 1.2 million employees scattered across the nation covered by this initiative will give little much needed leverage, at least initially, with health plans and hospitals.

I have been in healthcare 30 years as a pharmacist leading the design and implementation of Rx benefits. I also have a masters in healthcare administration and leadership and have worked on implementation of both Medicare Part D and the Affordable Care Act. In the last 16 years I have worked in the health insurance (payor) side in a variety of clinical, operations, strategy and compliance roles. The US currently spends 18.9% of its gross domestic product (GDP) on healthcare but does not have the highest quality or best outcomes compared to other developed countries. We pay for volume vs. paying for value and outcomes and this continues to drive healthcare costs higher. Something needs to give, but it will take innovation and seeing things for a completely different point of view to change the trajectory of healthcare in the US. I am a 2017 graduate of an Ivy League Executive Masters in Healthcare Administration and leadership, that focused for 16 months on the challenges with the healthcare system and what innovations or disruption is necessary to change the trajectory of the US healthcare system. In addition, my current employer’s mission is to disrupt the industry and turn it into one that is “worthy of our family and friends and sustainably affordable”. My recent education as well as my years of experience working in retail, hospital, long term care, hospice, assisted living, customer service and managed heath care will provide some perspective into areas the new venture may want to focus on in the short and medium terms.

I co-founded SaaS company that brings precision medicine to public and private health plans globally. We spend $390B annually on medications but ~30% of the treatments don’t lead to improved health outcomes. Employers/health plan sponsors urgently seek solutions to the rising cost of the health benefits plans, especially for ~20% of plan members that represent 65% of the drug plan’s costs. I am often invited to speak to health benefits advisors, highlighting how digital infrastructure, communications and analytics can combine to improve people's health, and health of the benefits plans as well.

My career as a benefit consultant has been consumer focused with the goal of education and transparency leading to improved health outcomes and reduced claims. It is specifically for this reason that I have been optimistic about the Amazon-Berkshire-JP Morgan Health Venture. Having worked with healthcare providers as clients and on their boards, I have the unique understanding of the revenue vs. cost component within the systems. While I am optimistic about this new venture, I believe the largest disconnect is our ability to arm providers with their patients cost implications to help them navigate towards a better health outcome. Too often, our providers don't have any consideration for the cost impact to the consumer. There needs to be alignment here to leverage the "value" in care management approach. If chosen to work on this board, I would be excited to learn, share, and be a thoughtful partner in an effort to produce an improved healthcare system through this new venture. All my best, Brian W. Drake