Warren Buffett’s health-care venture has far bigger plansthan simply squeezing middlemen for better prices, thebillionaire said.

“It would be very easy I think to go in and shave off 3 or 4percent just by negotiating power,” Buffett said Monday in aninterview on CNBC. “We’re looking for something much bigger thanthat.”

Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc., along with Amazon.com Inc.and JPMorgan Chase & Co., said in late January that theyplanned to start a joint health venture to improvecare for their workers. While the companies didn’t give muchdetail at the time, the announcement prompted broad speculation andunease among investors, sending shares lower for health-systemplayers including insurers and pharmacy-benefit managers.

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Health-care spending is taking up an increasing proportion ofthe U.S. economy, and a goal of the venture, Buffett said, is to“at least” halt that. He said he hopes “that we could find a waywhere perhaps better care could be delivered even at somewhatlesser cost.”

Buffett said the business is looking to hire a chief executivewithin a year. He said the form and plans of the enterprise arestill unclear and will be planned out by that person. And hecautioned that it’ll take plenty of time and effort before theventure can show results.

“I’m hopeful but don’t expect any miracles out of us soon,” hesaid. “This is not easy. If it was easy, it would have beendone.”

Buffett was also asked on CNBC about Berkshire’s investment inthe generic drugmaker Teva Pharmaceutical IndustriesLtd. Buffett said the investment was made by one of hisdeputy stock pickers, and that he didn’t know the reasons they madeit.

“Teva’s not a stock I bought, it’s one of the other two and Inever talked with him about it,” Buffett said.

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